MORE than 200 protestors gathered at the edge of a Lake District beauty spot to oppose plans that would see eight zip wires run over it.

Vocal objectors to the Thirlmere Activity Hub and environmental charity Friends of the Lake District organised Saturday's (January 27) rally.

Speakers at the event included Douglas Chalmers, chief executive of the Friends of the Lake District, film maker Terry Abraham and Clare Dyson, who worked on the Lake District National Park Mosaic Youth Project.

The charity's planning officer Laura Fiske gave an impassioned speech to the protestors in opposition to Treetop Trek's 'major commercial development'.

"I'll be frank in stating that when I heard about the proposal to have zip wires across Thirlmere I genuinely thought I'd fallen foul of a prank," she said. "I couldn't quite comprehend that this was a serious proposal.

"This is not some small scale development. What is being considered here is a major commercial development in open countryside, smack bang in the middle of the Lake District national park and world heritage site."

And Mr Abraham said that he was not 'anti' zip wire but the plans were 'in the utterly wrong location'.

"It essentially is an expensive theme park ride," he said. "You want to fly over Thirlmere? And have the wind flowing through your hair? Join the RAF. Go and pay for a ride on a gyrocopter."

And young protestor Jack Bickerstaffe, aged 10, from Ingleton, told the crowds: “Although we don’t mind tourists, we don’t think they come here for zip-wires, which would only spoil the view and be annoying.

His seven-year-old brother Seth added: “Zip-wires may have their place, but not in a beautiful place like this.”

Prior to the protest, the activity hub plans had also been discussed in the House of Lords, with Lord Greaves asking if the government would call in the application.

During last Thursday's debate, Lord Clark of Windermere declared an interest as chair of the world heritage site bid and as a resident of the Lake District National Park, but said to Nicholas Bourne, the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Housing Communities and Local Government.

"Would the minister accept and restate that, as he nominated the national park for world heritage site status, which is primarily about our cultural landscape and our natural beauty, it would be inappropriate for the tourist industry to see it as merely a way to create another Disneyland?" he said.

However, managing director of Treetop Trek Mike Turner said that although he welcomed the views of everyone, he was keen those views were based 'on fact and not hyperbole'.

“We’d like to remind people of the facts regarding our planning application - we are not proposing a theme park, we are proposing an accessible, inclusive, family friendly attraction with minimal impact on the landscape," he said.

"We welcome the views of everyone, both for and against our proposal, but we are keen that these are based on fact and not hyperbole or emotion. It is a fact that the vast majority of people consider zip lines as adventurous and we and many other high quality operators have been offering these adventures in the Lake District for many years.

“We absolutely dispute any suggestion that this project will desecrate, damage or in any way disrespect the landscape. This is a scheme that has the lightest of touches on the landscape with the structures hidden within a commercial forest and able to be removed within 48 hours. "The Lake District should appeal to the broadest range of people possible but we recognise the conflict between encouraging more people to use the landscape and the peace and tranquillity of those already using it. We feel the Thirlmere proposal offers a good balance of attracting new and younger audiences into the landscape."