A PARALYSED outdoors enthusiast has been selected to represent the Liberal Democrats in the upcoming Cumbria County Council elections.

Grasmere's Will Clark will be making his first foray into politics as he bids to become a councillor in the Lakes Division, which covers his home village and Ambleside.

32-year-old Will said his horrific injury, which has left him paralysed from the neck down, has made him realise the 'value and strength of local community support'.

“This is the area where I grew up and have lived for many years," he said. "I am really looking forward to the challenge and reward that representing my community with the Lib Dems will bring.”

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Will - a keen fell runner and skier - was 27 when he was left paralysed after a freak cycling accident in 2012 at Thirlmere when a stick got stuck in his spokes.

But the consequences have not stopped him from enjoying spending time in his beloved Lakes and being an active member of the local community.

He volunteers regularly in a variety of roles including for Grasmere School, The Great North Air Ambulance, The Calvert Trust and The Back Up Trust.

Through the Back Up Trust, Will has mentored those with spinal injures, helped integrate children into school and spoken about spinal injury at an international conference in Vienna, Austria.

Will, who attended the Lakes School, Troutbeck Bridge, still loves outdoor adventure and has recently returned from skiing in Sweden.

He gets out on the Lakeland fells on his Boma bike and regularly sails on Windermere in a boat funded by Westmorland Gazette readers following an appeal.

South Lakes MP and Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “Will is a real inspiration and I am delighted he has been selected as the Lib Dem candidate to represent Ambleside and Grasmere on the county council.

"Will is very well-known and is a key part of the local community. I know he will make an excellent councillor.”

Voters will go to the poll on May 4 to elect councillors in all 84 divisions.