The event will take place on Scout Scar. Photo: Friends of the Lake District

A campaigning charity is inviting outdoor enthusiasts to join it to celebrate a new dawn for a national park.

Friends of the Lake District will gather on a hillside above Kendal to mark the first day of an extended park next month.

The charity is inviting the public to see in the new dawn over one of the new areas of the Lake District national park on 1 August. Anyone attending the celebration will also be able to sample breakfast butties as the day dawns over the enlarged park.

Both the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales will see their areas extended – the Dales will grow by almost a quarter.

Douglas Chalmers, chief executive of Friends of the Lake District said: “This is a historic day and a very rare one; national park status is the highest level of legal protection our stunning landscapes can have and this hasn’t happened in Cumbria since the 1950s, when some very beautiful land was left out of the national park boundaries and unprotected.

“Friends of the Lake District have been campaigning for this day for a very long time. Please come and help us celebrate and record the moment.”

The event will take place at 5.30am on Monday 1 August on Scout Scar, west of Kendal. The charity said: “This is a free event but Friends of the Lake District ask that you pre-register attendance so that catering can be arranged.”

Outdoor fans can register online or by contacting Alison Lax on 01539 720788 or by email.