THE Environment Agency is coming under fire from worried town councillors at Norton-on-Derwent for inaction since the recent floods.

Councillor David Lloyd-Williams, who is also a member of North Yorkshire County Council, said "I find it incomprehensible that the Highways Agency listen to local people the Environment Agency does not. We shall have to wait for another one or two years for a flood defence scheme."

He warned that with the fields and land around Malton and Norton now saturated, a crisis could reoccur with just two or three days of moderate rain. "There has been a lot of talk but no action," he said.

The town council has asked for a detailed copy of a report by Ofwat on the flooding crisis in the twin towns.

Several members said there was concern about the maintenance of water courses in the area, and are asking a representative of Yorkshire Water to meet the council.

Sir John Harman, chairman of the Environment Agency, in a letter to Norton council, has rejected dredging as a viable option to the area's flooding problems.

He said: "No amount of maintenance of the river in terms of dredging or tree management would have made a difference to the extent or severity of the flooding. The notion that widespread dredging increases the capacity of the river is wrong."

Sir John said a feasibility study of the River Derwent at Malton and Norton had shown that the river channel would have to be widened by 100ft from Malton all the way to Barmby if it were not to flood