Windermere’s speed limit will stay, authorities have decided.

The controversial 10mph restriction, imposed two years ago, was challenged by a pressure group which wanted to use high-powered craft on the lake.

The Keep Windermere Alive Association is hoping to overturn the limit and in the meantime had asked the Lake District National Park Authority to look at a ‘managed solution’ allowing jet skis, power boats and water skiers back on the water in some areas at certain times.

But the national park authority has been advised there is no legal basis for the challenge and said the managed solution would be too bureaucratic and unworkable. It also said further uncertainty over the lake use would hit the area’s economic wellbeing.

The 10mph limit was introduced following a public inquiry and a five-year moratorium, coming fully into effect in March 2005.