STRETCHES of a river which caused devastating floods when it burst its banks last Christmas could be dredged, in a drive to avert a repeat of the inundation.

The Environment Agency is considering dredging some high points in the River Foss, in York, to improve the flow of water, examining at how well weirs manage water levels and whether new, small defences could stop the higher flows spilling out into homes and businesses.

Since the Government pledged £45 million to boost the city’s defences after the December floods, Environment Agency engineers have been looking at the feasibility of different options.

It said the Foss Barrier, which failed during the floods last year, had been used four times since failing on Boxing Day and the flood prevention measure was being upgraded.

The agency said that although flood defences were built to protect York from all but one-in-100-year floods, recent modelling shows those floods now happened once every 75 years.

Its work on the River Ouse in the city could include realigning the river channel, upstream storage of flood waters, raising and building new earth embankments, and raising and building new flood walls.