AS many as 6,000 people were last night warned to leave their homes in York as the city battled its worst floods for a century.

About 3,000 homes were being cleared, with many residents being taken to makeshift evacuation centres.

Elsewhere in the region, householders were left to either start the grim task of cleaning up or fearfully anticipate a return of water into their homes for the second or third time this year.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said parts of the £8m flood protection defences were breached as the River Ouse was swollen by torrential rain which fell on Thursday night in North Yorkshire.

Areas affected in the city included Leeman Road, North Street and Armoury Terrace. Sandbags were being put in place to shore up flood wall defences in a desperate attempt to save the streets from flooding.

"We estimate that between 5,000 and 6,000 people are being affected,'' said the council spokeswoman.

York was a city under siege as millions of gallons of murky brown cold water threatened to engulf great swathes of its residential areas.

Part of the city centre had already become a no-go area after the Ouse steadily rose to some 17ft above normal during the last week. But last night its waters were still rising.

In the Clementhorpe area late yesterday afternoon, the defences were finally breached and the water poured into street after street, reaching the window sills of many of the terraced houses.

Rescue crews made up of soldiers, police and firefighters cruised along the inundated roads in boats, calling at every home offering to help evacuate the residents.

Emergency relief centres were set up in Archbishop Hallgate School and the city's technical college, and many people were only to happy to accept the offer of a boat ride to safety and dry land.

"We've been told the waters here could rise another nine inches - so we think it can only get worse," said North Yorkshire Police Inspector Howard Harding, as he helped coordinate the rescues.

"A lot of people managed to make their own way out and some we have had to evacuate. Others have wanted to stay so we've been helping them move their possession upstairs.

"This has stretched us and the army to the limit but we'll be keeping officers here throughout the night in case any burglers are tempted by the empty houses."

On the other side of the city, Leeman Road, close to the railway station, was on the brink of disaster late last night.

The flood plain between the tightly-packed terraced road and the river had been transformed into a deep lake and with water lapping just inches below the great earthwork defence, another deluge looked inevitable.

Although the streets were swarming with sightseers, the sand-bagged doorways and convoys of army vehicles underlined the real drama of the situation.

Bus company Rider York cancelled all but the most essential of services and put its heavyweight fleet at the disposal of the authority for the evacuation.

A statement issued by the Environment Agency predicted that the Ouse was expected to reach 17ft 5ins above normal between five and six am this morning - the highest level for more than 100 years.

But parts of the city's expensive flood defence measures were already being breached early in the evening.

An agency spokesman said: "There has been little rain in the city today but torrential rain which fell overnight in Yorkshire has gone straight into the river as the ground is so saturated and this has now come down into York, exacerbating an already very serious situation.''

A top-level summit was held in the city yesterday to discuss the crisis, attended by city council and Environment Agency bosses, emergency services and the army chiefs.

Elsewhere residents of Skinningrove in east Cleveland got the heartbreaking clean-up under way after a full evacuation on Thursday night - and a threat of yet another clearance last night.

People living near the River Gaunless in County Durham were left on tenterhooks as the river rose yesterday, threatening to flood their homes again.

Some victims of floods earlier this summer have yet to return to their homes, remaining instead in caravans nearby.

Rising waters also claimed victims in several other parts of County Durham, North Yorkshire and North Durham