SOUTH Lakes MP Tim Farron has asked for reassurances that school pupils will be able to make it to their exams following months of cancellations on the Lakes Line.

The line has experienced mass cancellations by Northern, causing problems for children who rely on the train to get to school.

Mr Farron has contacted the secretaries of state for transport and education asking them to ensure that children who rely on the Lakes Line have access to their school ahead of GCSEs next week. He has also contacted Northern to ask what safeguards are being put in place.

“Children put a lot of hard work into preparing for these important exams and it is absolutely unacceptable for them to be forced to miss taking them just because of poor decisions made by Northern and the Department for Transport," Mr Farron said.

And Lord Clark of Windermere raised the issue in the House of Lords, saying: "Will the Government look at the possibility of forcing Northern Rail to run a proper service into the Lake District?"

Lord Ashton of Hyde said that he agreed that a proper service was important for tourism and a proper transport infrastructure was essential to get visitors away from London 'to look at the benefits of our wonderful heritage'.

A spokesman for Northern said it fully understood customers' concerns.

“We are working hard to give the line the best possible train service during the coming weeks and will continue to do so after the timetable change on May 20," they said.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said that it was monitoring Northern's performance.

“We know this is a very important time for students, and in order to ensure they are able to attend their exams, in the event of any cancellations Northern will have a minimum of three buses in operation along with station co-ordinators at Oxenholme and Windermere," they said.