THE first stage of defence works to prevent further flooding in the county town of North Yorkshire has been completed.

An old bridge which impeded the flow of water through a beck at Romanby, Northallerton, has been removed and replaced with a temporary structure.

The abutments of the old bridge, in Wooden Hill Lane, used to slow down the flow of the beck when it was full, as did the low deck of the structure.

However, it has now been replaced with a temporary structure and construction work on a permanent replacement will begin later this year. Earthworks have also been carried out to improve the water flow.

The work, carried out by North Yorkshire County Council, is the first in a series of flood defence projects in the Northallerton area, following two incidents of serious flooding in recent years.

They include work in Romanby to straighten Willow Beck, near Chantry Road, while in neighbouring Brompton there are plans for retaining water from the beck upstream of the village.

An overflow channel at Water End Bridge is planned and beck clearance work will also be carried out in the area.

Mike Moore, the county's director of environmental services, has a budget of about £750,000 for flood works this year.

However, the work on the bridge was achieved through the county's bridges budget.

But the authority has also recently put in a preliminary application to the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for further funds, which could be several million pounds.

The main part of the flood works will be holding areas at the top of Sun and Turker Becks, where surplus water can be held and then channelled away, and a storage tank under Bullamoor Park.

"Further areas of highway flooding are being rectified using basic maintenance money," said Mr Moore.

"This is an ongoing process with any new areas of flooding being included on the works programme to be completed when budgets allow."

Peter Sowray, the county's executive member for environmental services, said: "The projects we are committed to, and the ones we hope to develop, demonstrate the resolve to alleviate flood problems wherever possible.