A Cumbrian business organisation is taking to the airwaves to encourage support for local businesses as the county recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership has commissioned a week-long series of TV adverts to be broadcast this week urging local people to "think local" and support Cumbria’s shops, pubs, cafes, hotels and tourism businesses.

The initiative is in support of the "think local" campaign that has been running for several weeks, begun by the Business and Economic Response and Recovery Group of the Local Resilience Forum.

A series of 30-second adverts will be broadcast during prime time and day time viewing on ITV Border over the course of the week, starting today.

The adverts in the Border region will be supported by an accompanying campaign on the ITV Hub, the online video on demand service accessible through the main ITV website itv.com

This is so it can be accessed by viewers in the south west corner of Cumbria who are served by ITV Granada regional TV.

Jo Lappin, chair of BERRG and chief executive of the LEP, said: “The last few months have been extremely tough for our local businesses – and they’re not out of the woods yet.

“Our shops and businesses across a wide range of sectors are at the heart of our communities. Many were there for us when we needed them during the early days of lockdown and they’re still there for us now.

“We all have an opportunity to be there for them now and show them our support.

"We hope the TV ad campaign will amplify the messages we’ve been putting out for several weeks and encourage people to think local first."