A swelling number of mountain rescue call outs to unprepared walkers has prompted leaders to call on the police and partners agencies to help tackle the issue.

Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team, which covers Scafell Pike, has already responded to 133 incidents this year - a steep rise compared to 112 for the whole of 2016 , and 31 more up to the same time last year .

This year 96 call outs have led to volunteers being put out on the fells.

"It is the most we have ever had to trace people," said Richard Warren, chair of The Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association and a member of Wasdale MRT.

"Team members are totally committed to saving lives and helping people.

"But what we want is for people to think about going out at 3pm or looking at the weather forecast. Think about what will happen if I break my ankle, have I got warm clothing, a map, and do I know how to use it?

"The frustrations we have are those people who are really not being responsible about what they are doing."

He continued: "It puts tremendous strain on mountain rescuer's relationships with work, friends and partners. There are also pressures with exhaustion."

In recent months the Wasdale team has been called out five times in 12 hours - with four of those being "totally avoidable".

There was even a call out while a severe weather warning was in place, and another to find 125 lost walkers.

In August the team dealt with 14 rescues in two weeks.

Mr Warren and some of his colleagues are due to meet the Lake District National Park Authority, National Trust and Cumbria Police to take them up Scafell Pike, and discuss how they might be able to increase awareness of people going up the mountains; what to take and where not to go.

Simple things like checking the weather forecast, the use of maps and compasses and what to wear are still being overlooked.

He will show partner agencies accident black spots including Broad Stand and Lord's Rake as well as Piers Ghyll where a where Dawid Kancyr, a 28-year-old Polish national, died in October.

"We are not sure how to tackle it," said Mr Warren. "We think it's important to work with our partners.

"We will carry on and we will do the rescues but there is a limit to how much time as volunteers we can spend on making people aware."

There are about 450 mountain rescue volunteers in 12 teams across Cumbria. They are all unpaid and respond to call outs 24/7 all year round.

While he was delighted by the Lake District's new World Heritage Site status, Mr Warren said the downside is that the number of search and rescue missions seems to have increased since UNESCO's announcement.

The weak pound is another reason he thinks more foreign tourists are visiting.

Many, he said, are very ill-prepared but most want to climb Scafell Pike, with it being England's highest mountain.

In the last three months 10 of Wasdale's call outs have involved searching for foreign nationals, both alone or in groups.

Mr Warren said there is an expectation of foreign nationals to see signage on the fells. Potential language issues and map reading also add to the problem.

"Any descent route is very difficult to navigate in bad weather and leads walkers into very steep dangerous terrain," he said.

"I always say there is maybe half a dozen routes to the top of the mountain but there is 360 routes off mountain."