Adverse criticism in part of Lakeland (4)
I believe the answer is:
flak
'adverse criticism' is the definition.
(flak can mean strong criticism)
'part of lakeland' is the wordplay.
'part' indicates a hidden word.
'FLAK' is hidden in the letters of 'of lakeland'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for flak that I've seen before include "Shooting" , "Unfriendly criticism" , "heated disagreement" , "that can bring down a plane" , "Criticism (colloq.)" .)