A country house has been rewarded for its environment-friendly approach to tourism with an award from a national organisation.

Derwent Bank, which is on the banks of Derwentwater, has been granted Silver status by leading industry accreditation association, Green Tourism.

The venue’s locally-sourced restaurant produce, resident beehives, highly committed staff and a planned roll-out of LED-light replacements were highlighted as key examples of what it was doing to help the environment.

Mariano Marcos, house manager at Derwent Bank, told the Times & Star : “Derwent Bank is the first of HF Holidays’ properties to be assessed by the Green Tourism association and so we are delighted our commitment to sustainability has secured silver status.

“It is a huge achievement and definitely a standard the team are keen to aspire to at every one of our 19 country houses throughout the UK.”

The hotel, which has 32 bedrooms andfive double-bedded chalets, was built in 1785 and has recently been refurbished.

HF Holidays, which owns the building, is a co-operative society that has been organising outdoor holidays for more than 100 years.

Green Tourism, which is a not-for-profit organisation, is considered one of the most rigorous certification programmes of its kind.

Established in 1997, it is independently validated by the International Centre for Responsible Tourism on behalf of Visit England, Visit Wales and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and is endorsed by Visit Scotland and Failte Ireland.