During Spring a Cumbrian tractor gets a surprise bill from London's congestion charge, the fight was on to save Hebridean hedgehogs and skeletons came out of the closet.

APRIL

Staff and pupils enjoyed Red Nose day at Queen Katherine School when they voted to 'gunge a teacher'. The unlucky recipient was lower school head Keith Barber who met his fate in front of 1,400 pupils.

A Kendal couple who appealed for readers' help in their bid to save 5,000 Hebridean hedgehogs from a mass cull were inundated with concerned calls. Hedgehog carers Roger and Margaret Dixon said they had been "overwhelmed" by the response from Westmorland Gazette readers.

MAY

The Emperor of India - a restaurant in the heart of the Lakes - drew criticism for banning Asians from eating there on Bank Holidays and at busy times. Restaurant managers defended the move saying it was a question of eating habits, not of race.

A Glenridding man spoke out after traffic wardens in the London Borough of Islington began plaguing him with parking tickets distributed in the capital to a vehicle with the same registration number as his vintage tractor.

Travellers, horses and tourists headed in their droves to Appleby Horse fair - a traditional event believed to have developed from a fair charter granted in 1685. The annual event took place in June in the town and around the Fair Hill area, attracting upwards of 5,000 travellers from all over the UK and Ireland and 30,000 tourists.

JUNE

Former Government minister Kate Hoey threw her weight behind the campaign against the 10mph speed limit on Windermere by heading a waterborne protest on the lake.

Celebrity gardener and 80s pop icon Kim Wilde graced the 11th Holker Garden Festival with her presence and created a bespoke garden in the centre of the show.

Furniture-movers got more than they bargained for when they discovered two complete human skeletons in a dressing table which had belonged to a deceased Arnside doctor.

Thirteen-year-old sleepwalker Katy Yates appeared on a BBC programme about sleep disorders where she confessed to killing her own goldfish during one of her nocturnal wanderings.