LEAVING my family and community this Monday felt especially difficult. Our community is in shock following the desperately tragic loss of two wonderfully bright, kind and ambitious young women.

Words fail to articulate the sense of loss and profound sadness that is being experienced by all in our community. At just 18 years old their place in the world and life's opportunities have been cruelly snatched away.

Tributes are pouring in, testament to their popularity and I know the families will take comfort from these, in time.

Millom is a particularly close-knit town; in such times of awful tragedy we will support each other.

My thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and friends of Caitlin and Skye and I'm also praying for the full recovery of Ellis and Patrick.

Our emergency services were on the scene quickly, working in devastating circumstances. The air ambulance was once again called out, an essential part of emergency relief in our rural area particularly when accessing specialist hospitals out of Cumbria.

While on this subject, the news that Cumbrian hospitals are going to benefit from part of the £325m Sustainable Transformation Project fund is of course very welcome.

West Cumberland Hospital will receive one of the biggest allocations of funding in the country, well over £30m. This major investment will enable the final phase of construction and the creation of a brand new cancer care department - aiming to provide a diagnosis within four weeks. Early diagnosis is vital to improve the outcomes for cancer patients.

Cancer has affected every family in Copeland, it is a dreadful, indiscriminate disease. This funding announcement will support our excellent doctors and nurses in their work and will help us to, one day, find a cure for all cancers.

This investment will also support the recruitment and retention of staff throughout the health sector in Cumbria.

Securing this major investment for West Cumberland Hospital is fantastic news and will mean patients get an even better service from the NHS.

The funding will help to deliver faster diagnosis for conditions including cancer, easier access to mental health services, expansions of A&E departments, shorter waiting times for operations, and more services in GP surgeries.

There has been huge progress in improving patient care and this funding will help to secure the highest quality, most compassionate patient care anywhere in the world.