MAJOR construction work on a town's flood defences has been completed.

The £3.1m project reduces the risk of flooding to 172 homes and businesses in Northallerton, plus the Friarage Hospital.

The Environment Agency scheme included the creation of storage areas at Turker Beck and Sun Beck and the installation of hydraulic control measures to reduce the risk of flooding further downstream.

The storage areas will fill after heavy rainfall, slowing the flow of water and reducing the risk of flooding in the town centre. They use the natural lie of the land to avoid the need for building large and obtrusive banks.

Some of the material excavated in creation of the two storage areas was transported to Pickering to help create a new flood storage area there.

Local county councillor Tony Hall, Hambleton District Council chairman John Prest and local mayor John Forrest toured the sites.

Cllr Hall said afterwards: “The town has waited a long time for these major flood defence schemes to be in place. However, these are only the first part of the jigsaw in terms of the overall need to tackle flood risk.

“We now need to address the issue of surface water flooding in the town by engaging with Yorkshire Water and colleagues in North Yorkshire County Council.”

The Northallerton area has a history of localised flooding which has caused disruption to residents and businesses. Severe flooding occurred in 2000 and 2002 and many properties were damaged.

More recently, flooding caused damaged to properties in November 2012 and also led to closure of the Friarage Hospital.

Final landscaping and the installation of safety railings and fencing is due to be completed shortly.