The fell top assessors climb Helvellyn every day in winter

Cumbria Tourist Board has put bottled air from the top of Helvellyn for sale on Internet auction website eBay.

The air was collected by the fell top assessors who climb Helvellyn every day throughout the winter to check the weather conditions.

The money raised from the sale of the bottled air will fund conservation projects on the fells.

The bottle of Lakeland Air is labelled 'natural, fresh, sparkling and still'.

It was put on the site on 12 December and on Sunday morning the bidding had reached �46. Bidding will end on Wednesday night.

Christmas present

Tourist board chief executive Chris Collier said the idea had sparked a lot of inquiries and, if there was demand for the product, they would continue the offer.

She said: "Let's face it, what do you buy for Christmas for the person who has got everything? Well you may as well give them some fresh air."

Two fell top assessors are employed by the Lake District National Park Authority to climb Helvellyn every day throughout the winter to check conditions at 3,114ft (nearly 950m).

The information is used on the authority's Weatherline service, which is contacted by 200,000 people a year.