Banging drums, blowing whistles and delivering passionate speeches - hundreds of people turned out for a rally in Carlisle today to protest against school funding cuts.

Parents, teachers, children and MP candidates came to the demonstration in Carlisle to deliver a message loud and clear to government - stop the cuts to education.

The rally was held to raise awareness of the huge cuts to school funding and with their drums banging, whistles blowing and placards raised, the rally's message was effectively delivered. It follows a similar rally held in Penrith at the beginning of May.

The National Audit Office says there will be a £3bn shortfall by 2010 and more than £23m of that will be in Cumbria.

Teachers and parents took to the stage to explain what that shortfall means - less teachers and teaching assistants, less support for children in school, less choice of subject and, ultimately, less opportunity for children.

Clem Coady, headteacher at Stoneraise Primary School, Carlisle, said: "This lack of funding is having a serious impact on our chidren's education across the country.

"I speak to many headteachers in Carlisle, Cumbria and beyond and I'm continually told the same messages - because of lack of funding.

"We're seeing in Carlisle increased class sizes, we're seeing less teaching assistants in our classrooms supporting our most vulnerable pupils - our pupils with health needs, medical needs, learning needs - all of that support is being reduced vastly.

"We're seeing less curriculum choices being offered. We're seeing schools in our city which have got rising damp, leaking roofs and plaster peeling off the walls and there's no money to build and repair these schools.

"All these projects are being shelved because of a lack of Government funding going into our classrooms.

"In my own school, a school that I love and that my children go to, we're losing 40 hours of teaching support every week at the end of this year. I know my children will massively miss out on their valued support."

All MP candidates from the area were invited to take part in the rally and speak. Labour candidate Ruth Alcroft was the only Carlisle candidate who was there.

Many references were made in various people's speeches that John Stevenson, Conservative candidate who was elected as MP for the area in 2009 and 2010, did not come.

Ms Alcroft, Rebecca Hanson the Liberal Democrat candidate for Copeland and Kerryanne Wilde, Ukip's candidate for Penrith and The Border all pledged to support the National Union of Head Teacher's five priorities in the next parliament by signing a promise on stage.

The five priorities are:

*To fund education fully and fairly

*To put forward a national strategy for teacher recruitment and retention

*To adopt fair methods to hold schools to account

*To value a broad range of subjects in the school day

*To make sure that schools are supported by health and social care

Speaking to the crowd, Ms Alcroft said: "I was a teacher for 10 years and the fact that in 2017 we are asking for those absolutely shocks me and tells me how far and how hard we have to work in order to make our education system right."

The other candidates standing in Carlisle are Fiona Mills (Ukip), John Stevenson (Con) and Peter Thornton (Lib Dem).