VILLAGERS are hoping state-of-the-art defences will protect them from floods which devastated homes three times last year.

Completion of a £261,000 flood defence scheme providing 274 metres of flood walling, floodgates, collapsible bridge parapets and a debris screen, was officially unveiled at Skinningrove, in east Cleveland, yesterday.

A telemetry system, to give advanced flood warnings, is being installed in partnership with the Environment Agency, as part of the defences born in the wake of the floods which hit the village in July, October and then, again in November, last year.

"No-one will every forget the traumas of those terrible days last year,'' said Coun Sylvia Szintai (COR) of Redcar and Cleveland Council, who together with Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Ashok Kumar officially unveiled the project.

She said: "We believe the work that has been carried out will go a long way to ensuring the residents never have to suffer the scale of problems again.''

Dr Kumar, who took a delegation of residents and councillors to Westminster in a successful lobby for flood defence funding, commented: "Hopefully, the success of this work will help protect the people of Skinningrove from any future floods and I am glad I have been able to play my part.''

Resident Tom Evans said: "It's definitely given renewed confidence in the village, though there are on going problems which need to be addressed.

"It has not slipped by unnoticed that it is almost 12 months since the last lot of floods. This has given new confidence to villagers, maybe more so to the older residents. Younger people understand that floods can come from elsewhere.''

However, not everyone is awash with praise for the scheme which was virtual reality tested.

Resident Tina Dowey, who scrubbed out neighbours' mud coated homes last year, said: "They have not done any flood defence scheme at the top of the village. I think the wall has been built too high and not long enough.''

In the floods last summer residents had to be evacuated by lifeboat and were taken to an emergency rest centre at Rosecroft School, in nearby Loftus. The village was then repeatedly hit by floods in October and November.