Eddie Harrison, team member and spokesman for Kendal Mountain Rescue, said: “If services were to be lost at Westmorland, we wouldn’t be able to transfer people to Lancaster.

"It’s too far given that the rescuers could have been on the fells for hours already, and we’re a voluntary organisation and wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of going to Lancaster and back.

"We’d have to call for an ambulance every time, so I think if some services were to go from Kendal it would put more of a strain on the ambulance service.”