GOVERNMENT money remains the key to a £50,000 flood protection scheme which has been agreed for a vulnerable area of Northallerton.

Insurance companies had to pay out thousands of pounds in claims after 21 houses in St John's Close, off Thirsk Road, were indundated 15 months ago because College Stell, a local watercourse, had burst its banks.

Carpets, furniture and kitchen equipment were ruined and some householders were unable to return home for months.

Now the River Wiske internal drainage board has decided to go ahead with a flood protection scheme for College Stell as long as a grant from Defra is received.

Engineers acting for the board have designed a scheme, involving replacement of culverts, lowering of water mains and regrading of the watercourse, which should give protection against the most extreme flooding calculated to occur once every 100 years.

Extra protection will also be given by a piled wall, 100 metres long, to protect the houses.

Contributions towards the cost have been promised by Hambleton council, the Environment Agency and Wimpey Homes, who built the affected houses.

The scheme depends, however, on a grant of about 48pc from Defra if the department's requirements on costs, benefits and priorities can be met. Engineers have prepared an analysis and it is hoped that a decision will be known within the next four weeks.

Drainage board member Coun Jack Dobson, of Northallerton, said it would be the first flood protection scheme in the town.

The work lay within the jurisdiction of the board, which operated with permissive rights, and did not have to wait for an official study to be conducted by the Environment Agency, as was the case at Brompton.

Coun Dobson said: "The scheme will protect residents' properties, allow residents to obtain insurance and create an atmosphere of safety in which residents should be better able to sell their properties.

"It should be recognised, however, that no flood defence works will afford 100pc protection. Flooding is not an exact science, but in my view the scheme will afford 99pc protection."

l Letters to the Editor: page 22.