Cumbria’s Eden Valley has the third darkest skies in the country according to the results of a survey of the nation’s views of the night sky.

Stargazers were asked to count the number of stars visible in the Orion constellation for the study by CPRE, the countryside charity, with the findings just in.

More than 2,400 people took part nationally, choosing one day in February to make their counts. The results show that 61 per cent of people in England counted ten stars or fewer, meaning they were in an area with severe light pollution, an increase from 57 per cent last year.

In Cumbria, the fifth darkest county area of England, Kirkby-in-Furness took the top spot for its night skies with 27 stars visible in Orion, with Asby near Appleby coming in second place with 23 stars. However, elsewhere in Cumbria 39 per cent of people reported seeing ten stars or fewer.

In CPRE’s Night Blight Report 2016 of the top 20 darkest districts nationally in which Eden came third and South Lakeland was ranked eighth.

Friends of the Lake District, which represents CPRE in Cumbria, is supporting the national call for local authorities and councils to adopt rigorous policies in local plans to tackle light pollution and protect and enhance dark skies.

One example of progress is Cumbria County Council’s road lighting programme, which has seen more than 41,000 of the older orange sodium lights replaced with LED lights since 2012. The new lamps focus downwards where the light is needed rather than wasting light upwards and adding to sky glow light pollution. The measure has also cut electricity use by 62 per cent and reduced carbon emissions by 80 per cent.

Research shows that light pollution not only affects people’s enjoyment of the night sky but also their health and well-being. It also reveals how harmful artificial lighting is to wildlife and the food chain. It is estimated that 60 per cent of insects are nocturnal and a third of these are dying because of light pollution, according to the CPRE.

Jack Ellerby, Dark Skies project officer at Friends of the Lake District, says: “Satellite images show how important the North of England and Cumbria are to the nation as a dark skies resource. Sadly, our darker places are being gradually eroded piecemeal by the fashion of putting up more and more outdoor lighting.

“The good news is that, people recognise the issue of light pollution, whether they are an amateur astronomer or photographer, love wildlife, run a rural tourism business, or want to help the climate by switching unwanted lights off.”

The Dark Skies Cumbria project is bringing together people, communities, businesses and supporting organisations to tackle existing light pollution and trying to prevent new lighting. friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/darkskies

Photo credit: Our image of Castlerigg Stone Circle was taken by Dom Reardon. Instagram: @dom_reardon_photo