A consortium led by the University of Cumbria has secured government funding to develop a new degree apprenticeship to train future generations of nurses.

The group also includes among others Lakes College at Lillyhall near Workington and Furness College in Barrow.

It is one of 27 projects from around the country to be awarded a total of £4.9m to develop new degree apprenticeships.

The new apprenticeship is a boost to Cumbria's hospitals and health trusts ambitions to attract more highly-trained staff.

Cumbria's centres will be working alongside Southport College, Bury College and Nelson and Colne College to devise the new course.

The consortium will work in partnership with employers and plans are for the first apprenticeships to begin next September.

Degree apprenticeships bring together higher education study and paid work.

They allow apprentices to work at least 30 hours a week and earn a degree alongside their employment.

Madeleine Atkins, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), said: "[Universities and colleges] will now work with employers to develop new degree apprenticeship provision across a variety of sectors.

"This will help more people to access higher education, and to follow their chosen career, while closing the skills gaps in the economy."

The announcement comes almost a year after the HEFCE revealed that another University of Cumbria-led group had secured funding to develop the UK's first degree apprenticeship in policing.