A row broke out over a car park under construction in the Lake District.

A row has erupted over proposals to build a new car park in the Lake District.

Mike Anderton has applied for planning permission to build a 150-car car park at Alloch Moss, near Cat Bells, a hill overlooking Derwentwater and the town of Keswick.

He said the area had a “well documented” parking problem, but opponents Friends of the Lake District (FLD) said the scheme would “undermine” the area’s sustainability goals.

The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) said it would make a decision on the application “in due course”.

Mr Anderton said his team had come up with a “well thought out plan” for the car park, with fencing, trees and a “net gain in biodiversity”.

He said there is “literally nowhere to park in the entire valley” and visitors are stopping on the side of the road and damaging the roadside.

“Current methods don’t work,” he said, adding: “Nobody has proposed anything else.”

FLD’s Lorraine Wall said alternatives had been proposed but had not been “fully explored”.

She said: “Building more car parks every time the number of cars increases completely undermines any effort or vision for a sustainable means of attracting visitors to and around the park.”

Ms Wall said the LDNPA should improve bus routes and limit the creation of any car parks to Keswick town.

She also said it was important to better promote the fact that the national park can be explored by public transport.

Similar parking plans had previously been rejected, but Mr Anderson said measures taken since then, such as adding more double yellow lines, had not been successful.