CUMBRIA County Council has been judged as "improving well" in the latest Audit Commission assessment of local authorities.

The authority has increased its rating from one to two stars in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment rating which was unveiled last Thursday.

Last year the council was judged as one of the worst performing in Britain in the CPA assessment which awarded it just one star out of a possible four.

But in this year's round of assessments, called the Harder Test, the authority's score has improved dramatically across a range of areas and CCC improved its rating to two stars.

Inspectors also awarded CCC a score of three out of four in its direction of travel rating, showing that the authority was improving well.

Cumbria was one of 32 councils out of the 150 assessed that moved up a star rating. Seventeen per cent of the assessed councils are rated at two stars, 48 per cent at three stars and 32 per cent at four stars. Inspectors rated just three per cent of councils as one star authorities.