FEWER people identify as Christian and more people are non-religious in Allerdale than a decade ago, new census figures show.

Office for National Statistics data from the 2021 census shows 60 per cent of people in Allerdale selected Christianity as their religion, down significantly from 75 per cent in the last survey a decade before.

About 33 per cent selected 'no religion' last year, a leap from 17 per cent in 2011.

Of these, 26 people said they were agnostic, while 27 selected Atheism.

The area follows trends across England and Wales where 46 per cent of the population described themselves as Christian in the recent census, down from 59% a decade earlier. It is the first time the proportion has dropped below half.

And the percentage of people saying they had no religion jumped from around a quarter (25 per cent) in 2011 to over a third (37 per cent) last year.