Residents will have their chance to grill Copeland's would-be MPs at a public hustings event next week.

Reverend Dave Harkison has organised the event at the United Reformed Church, in Whitehaven's Market Place, for Monday at 7.30pm.

All seven candidates in the February 23 Parliamentary by-election have been invited; Trudy Harrison (Conservative), Gillian Troughton (Labour), Rebecca Hanson (Liberal Democrats), Fiona Mills (Ukip), Jack Lenox (Greens), Michael Guest and Roy Ivinson (both independent).

Rev Harkison, who will chair the hustings, said: "The process on Monday will be a Question Time format, receiving questions from the audience which each candidate will have an opportunity to answer.

"I will begin by giving each candidate a two-minute slot to say why the electorate should vote for them.

"The church traditionally organises events like this for Parliamentary elections, and it's a good chance for folk to hear what all the candidates have to say on a particular subject, rather than hearing one candidate's own views on the doorstep."

Rev Harkison added that questions do not need to be sent in advance, and audience places at the hustings do not need to be reserved.

A tight vote is expected in the by-election to replace Labour's Jamie Reed, who has resigned from Parliament to take up a job in community relations at Sellafield.

Labour are defending a slender 2,564 majority over the Conservatives from the 2015 General Election, when Mr Reed polled 16,750 to Stephen Haraldsen's 14,186.