A RECORD number of visitors are making their way to Cumbria by rail, highlighting the 'resilience' of the flood affected region.

More than half a million journeys were taken between London and Cumbria in the last 12 months, setting a new record for Virgin Trains.

Oxenholme, sometimes referred to as the 'gateway' to the Lake District, was the most popular destination in Cumbria with 283,000 trips to the region made between London and the station in the last year.

Ian Stephens, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, said that the rail figures were 'promising'.

"Provisional occupancy figures for the end of 2016 and start of 2017 look good and the increase in rail journeys to the county is promising and shows that businesses across Cumbria have real resilience," he said. "The effects of the events in winter 2015 highlighted how important tourism is to the Cumbrian economy with the sector supporting in excess of 60,000 jobs and in 2015 was worth £2.62 billion to the region’s economy."

Robert Talbot, chairman of the Lakes Line Rail User Group (LLRUG) said that the train travel statistics were 'great news' although not a 'surprise'.

"Over the Easter bank holiday LLRUG volunteers have supported the Community Rail Partnership by forming ‘welcome teams’ on the busiest trains between Oxenholme and Windermere," he said. "On Good Friday the five trains between 10.33am and 2:22pm carried almost 1,000 passengers to Windermere, and most of these people had changed trains at Oxenholme. Many of the visitors are from overseas, and they find the railway an ideal way of travelling between Britain’s major tourist attractions, such as London and the Lake District."

The Office of National Statistics also released good news for tourism, with figures showing that a new record was set for inbound visits to the UK.

In the first two months of the year there was 5.2 million visits, up six per cent on the same period last year.

Mr Stephens added: “Businesses across Cumbria are reporting an increase in visitors from overseas and this is largely due to the effect of the weak pound but also reflects the fact that the UK and destinations like the Lake District have a strong appeal to international audiences.

"The region is also benefitting from newly added flights from China, the USA and Europe boosting visitor numbers from these areas."

However, he noted that less than 15 per cent of visitors to Cumbria came from overseas so there was still plenty of potential to attract more inbound tourists.