TRADERS and residents in Northallerton have been left counting the cost of the worst flooding to hit the town in years.

Council and police chiefs set up a 24-hour emergency centre after flash floods washed out the High Street and forced many families out of their homes.

Health services were also hit, with the Friarage Hospital having to cancel operations after the operating theatre suffered flooding from Turker Beck.

Operations manager at the hospital, Steve Spoerry, said operations were cancelled while staff coped with the aftermath.

He added that extra pumps had been brought in along with sandbags and boarding to protect the hospital against further flooding.

Hotel manager Keith Prest said he was still taking in flood victims at 5am as they were unable to get into their own homes.

Mr Prest told how people started arriving at the Sundial Hotel on Darlington Road from 9pm on Thursday night.

He said: "Everything was just blocked off. They couldn't get back down the road and they couldn't go further into town."

He said he even put up schoolchildren and their teachers from Yarm after they were stranded in the town. The pupils had been visiting Hambleton Leisure Centre.

Mr Prest said: "In the finish, people were having to share rooms. I even kept the chef on until the early hours to make sure everyone got something to eat."

Hambleton District Council announced that a 24-hour emergency floodline, which closes at noon on Thursday, would be set up to help residents needing advice or further sandbags.

The authority took delivery of another 80 tonnes of sand on Thursday after distributing 2,500 to swamped home owners in a matter of hours.

Northallerton residents were evacuated to the Hambleton Community Centre, as were many villagers from Brompton, where floods wreaked havoc in the Water End and Orchard Road areas.

Mountain rescue teams from RAF Leeming were on hand to evacuate residents of an old folks' home in Thirsk, where the murky waters washed out many homes.

Sixteen members of the team helped to evacuate residents, as council staff set up a temporary rest centre in the town hall.

Meanwhile, engineers working to restore the 154 year-old Mercury Bridge at Richmond have pledged to meet their targets despite the deluge of rain.

North Yorkshire County Council says the £1m project is still on course to be completed by Christmas. The listed structure was badly damaged by flooding of the River Swale earlier this year and this week's freak weather also took a heavy toll.

A temporary bridge across the river was closed last weekend after flood alerts were issued by the Environment Agency. But masonry for the reconstruction of the damaged central pier is now on site and work will start again once the river level has dropped.

The emergency floodline can be contacted on (01609) 767028/9.