Water firm in floods prevention pledge

Homes and businesses across North Yorkshire were swamped throughout June and July, withthe company later coming under fire when an independent report accused it of contributing to the deluge through a lack of investment.

The two-year study will examine the 40,000 miles of water and sewerage mains owned by the company, with the aim of pinpointing where investment should be targeted to minimise the risks in future.

The company is also working with local councils, the Environment Agency and internal drainage boards to ensure effective deluge defences are in place.

Last summer, 100 homes and businesses were flooded in Pickering alone, during what were the town's worst floods in memory, leaving a clean-up bill of £3.5m.

Gilling West, near Richmond, was flooded twice in one week, and the story repeated itself across the county.

Last November, a report by the Independent Review Body accused Yorkshire Water of failing to heed repeated warnings about the risk.

The report also accused the company of overestimating the capacity of its equipment to deal with heavy rain, which it said probably contributed to thousands of pounds worth of damage to properties which could otherwise have been protected from flooding.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said that the aim of the review, which will be supervised by the company's top officials, is to draw up a detailed action plan to prevent further flooding in the wake of increasing warnings about climate change.

"There is no doubt the events of last June were so significant that they are likely to have changed the way drainage and flooding are dealt with by key agencies forever," he said.

"The intensity and relentless nature of last year's weather had not been witnessed in living memory - indeed, it has been described as unprecedented.

"Nevertheless, it has now happened once and, as a result, Yorkshire Water has recognised that there is a possibility it could happen again."