Keswick Town Council and the local MP have backed a campaign against the planned dates for next year's Christian convention in the town.

Businesses are calling for the 2018 Keswick Convention dates to be brought forward amid concern that the planned schedule - with all three weeks in the school summer holidays - could kill town trade.

Keswick Ministries, the charity that runs the annual event, says it needs to hold at least two of its three weeks on dates when most of England is on school holidays.

Without that, it says, most families would be forced to attend during week three and the event could not accommodate them all.

But some town businesses have claimed their takings drop by up to 90 per cent during the convention.

And town councillor Graham Kendall has questioned Keswick Ministries' date calculations after his own research suggested 99 per cent of local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales would begin their holidays during or before the first planned week of next year's event.

Copeland MP Trudy Harrison said she had spoken to Keswick Ministries and urged it to change the planned dates.

She said: "I recognise that it's not helpful to have the convention visitors here in summer holiday time. I hope that the date change happens.

"I'd like to meet with any concerned businesses to help them work more effectively with the convention."

The council also urged Keswick Ministries to reconsider its 2018 dates.

In a unanimous resolution, members said: "Keswick Town Council supports the convention and town working together for our mutual benefit.

"The town council has no powers to compel organisations to change their business decisions but the move to having all three weeks within the Cumbrian school holidays has caused disquiet among some businesses who lose out at convention time.

"The town council therefore strongly urges Keswick Ministries to reconsider their change of date and to work with local businesses to overcome this issue."

Peter Maiden, minister-at-large for Keswick Ministries, said: "We've certainly heard very clearly the strength of feeling being expressed locally and we want to respond to that as well as we can. I think there are ways we can work together."

He stressed that consideration was being given to amending the 2018 dates but this would be very difficult as it would make the event virtually unmanageable and the event programme was already advanced.

He said that many conventioners booked their 2018 accommodation during this year's event, which would result in a knock-on impact for the town's accommodation providers if the dates changed.

Mr Maiden added that a planned round table discussion with businesses to hear their concerns had been set for early September as soon after that the dates for 2019 would be planned.

In a separate vote, the town council decided its events committee should look into the possibility of appointing an co-ordinator in a bid to improve scheduling of events that happen in Keswick.

Meanwhile, Mrs Harrison faced criticism from some traders after addressing this year's convention crowd.

They claimed the move was political and linked to the fact that Keswick Ministries' business director James Devenish was an election agent for the Conservative Party in the recent General Election.

But Mrs Harrison said: "I spoke there to welcome people to Keswick, to encourage them to spend their money. That wasn't a political statement."

The meeting heard that Mrs Harrison was the first MP in at least 20 years to be invited to address the convention.