A £1 million upgrade has seen visitor numbers surge at a Cumbrian hotel.

Occupancy was up six percent in January, 12 per cent in February and eight per cent in March.

Appleby Manor, in the Eden Valley, opened the doors to its new Garden Spa at the end of 2015.

The first three months of this year have been the hotel’s busiest in 15 years.

As well as visitors from Cumbria, the number of guests coming from Lancashire, Merseyside and the North East are also on the rise.

There has also been a shift towards friends and family celebrating birthdays and special occasions with group getaways to the spa.

Mike and Angela Dunbobbin, who have owned Appleby Manor since 2000, have installed a biomass boiler to reduce energy use and have also created their own bore hole to reduce water use.

The range of treatments available have been selected to minimise their environmental impact.

It means Appleby Manor is one of the only carbon-neutral spas in the country.

As a result it was named the ‘best eco-friendly hotel’ in November’s Best Loved Hotels Awards.

Mr Dunbobbin said, “It’s been a difficult time for many people following the devastating floods, but we are really proud to be investing in Cumbria and helping put this special part of world on the tourism map.

“We hope the positive economic benefits we are seeing will bring added benefits not just for our business, but also for Appleby and the county as a whole. Obviously we cannot rest on our laurels.

“The spa development is just phase one of a longer-term plan and we will be continuing to look to the future with the development of a roof top garden for the spa and newly refurbished bedrooms over the next couple of years.”

The new spa has created 10 jobs and new staff are being taken on to cope with the increase in guests.

The Garden Spa’s facilities include five treatments rooms, a steam room, pedidarium, salt-inhalation room, manicure and pedicure room, sauna and an infinity hydro pool linked to the outside by glass doors.