THE date when the analogue television service will be switched off and digital will take over across the Border region has been delayed, reports Michaela Robinson-Tate.

The switchover had been expected to take place in 2008, but it is now likely to be at the beginning of 2009.

The news was given at a meeting organised by the BBC for viewers and listeners to meet top executives and news people and to have their say.

In a Question Time-style evening, chaired by the North West Tonight presenter Gordon Burns, queries about the coverage of Cumbria on local television news programmes and the output of Radio Cumbria; current reception difficulties; the digital switchover and the BBC more generally were put forward by the audience who filled the theatre at Kendal's Brewery Arts Theatre.

The news about the digital switchover delay was given by John Askew, the regional manager for the Border region for Digital UK.

For the full story, get the Gazette Rail upgrade on the cards AN HISTORIC Cumbrian railway line could soon be upgraded to help increase the amount of freight carried on the rail network, reports Paul Duncan.

Network Rail has published its draft Freight Route Utilisation Strategy (FRUS) which sets out plans to increase freight carrying on the rail network by 30 per cent by 2015.

This would mean an extra 120 freight trains per day on the network which would, in turn, remove 12,000 lorries from the nation's motorways.

The Settle-Carlisle line would play a key role in transporting coal from Scotland to power stations in England. However, the report states that a number of additional signals would need to be installed and "large scale renewals" would need to be carried out to enable it to cope with increased freight.

The report says that, to cope with an additional 13 trains per day, new signals would need to be installed at Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Long Meg and Mallerstang, near Kirkby Stephen.

For the full story, get the Gazette Experts bid to uncover mystery lake creature A TEAM of scientists from Devon is planning to visit Windermere to investigate a strange "serpent-like" creature that was spotted emerging from the waters by a tourist.

Scientists from The Centre for Fortean Zoology are to visit Windermere in response to the sighting of a 20ft long animal off Watbarrow Point by a university lecturer who was in the area on holiday, as reported in The Westmorland Gazette in July.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) is the only scientific organisation in the world dedicated to investigating unknown animals and over the last 11 years it has mounted expeditions to Central America, Thailand, Sumatra, Mongolia, Africa, and the United States searching for giant snakes and mythical apes.

The CFZ has also conducted numerous investigations in the UK, in search of animals that are "currently unknown to science" and in 2002 it looked into reports of a "monster" attacking swans in Martin Mere, Lancashire, which turned out to be an eight-foot Wels catfish.

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