A GIANT earth dam, costing £4m, is to be built to prevent a repeat of the floods that devastated several North-East communities two years ago.

Officials have given the go-ahead for an artificial lake, bounded by a 40ft wall, to hold back millions of gallons of water.

The Environment Agency believes the barrier will "plug" a valley near West Auckland, County Durham, and stem the flow of the River Gaunless in bad weather.

It hopes it will protect the South Church and West Auckland, near Bishop Auckland, which were severely flooded when the river broke its banks two summers ago.

The ambitious project involves damming the river with a 40ft wall of earth, close to where Norton Fine Beck joins the River Gaunless at Spring Gardens, in West Auckland.

The dam should hold back any large volume of water rushing off Woodland Fell, says the Environment Agency.

During a flood, it will create a lake 1,000ft wide and more than half a mile long.

The scheme will come as a relief to residents who watched in horror as their homes were engulfed, during June 2000.

The flood tide reached 3ft in many homes and businesses, causing millions of pounds worth of damage.

Emergency services and soldiers were called to help evacuate people from houses and two nursing homes.

Dozens of families spent many miserable months in caravans while they waited for their homes to be returned to their original states.

Don Robinson, project manager at the Environment Agency, said the dammed valley would hold back 420 million gallons of water, which is more than the volume of water that led to the flooding of South Church and West Auckland.

He said: "Whereas in York it takes two days for flood water to come down the river, water comes down the Gaunless like crazy off the hills. With this dam, we can stop that sort of volume of water, so it can then be released downstream very gradually."

The earth barrier will incorporate a tunnel to enable the river to flow as usual during normal weather.

The scheme was held up as foot-and-mouth restrictions prevented work being carried out on the riverside, but work will start in May and is on course to meet the original deadline of winter 2003.

Anne Reynolds' West Auckland home was flooded two years ago but will now be protected by the dam.

She said: "I'm pleased with the plans. It will make people feel more secure. Hopefully, the floods will never happen again."

The Environment Agency plans to exhibit the proposed scheme at South Church, in February, and now West Auckland, at a date yet to be arranged.