Flash floods force evacuation from 80 homes

Police last night urged drivers to stay away from a stretch of coastline as a clean-up operation began after torrential rain flooded homes and roads.

Police last night urged drivers to stay away from a stretch of coastline as a clean-up operation began after torrential rain flooded homes and roads.

More than 80 houses were evacuated in the Filey area of North Yorkshire after the downpours caused flash floods. Several roads in the area were impassable, including the A165 Scarborough to Filey road and the A65 Seamer by-pass. Along stretches of the busy main routes traffic was slow-moving, causing long tailbacks.

Two adults and a baby were rescued after their car became stuck in water, following flash flooding on Scalby Road, Scarborough. A fire officer involved in the rescue reported that the surface of the road was disintegrating due to the flooding.

In one of the worst-affected areas, Cayton, near Scarborough, was under three and a half feet of water and the only way to enter the village was by boat. Several houses in the village were flooded. A woman called police for help from her car, which was parked in a car-park near Scarborough hospital after the water rose to window level. An off-duty officer guided her to safety.

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency issued flood warnings for rivers on the North Yorkshire moors. A spokesman said he did not expect the situation to get any worse, but added that they would be keeping a close watch on river levels overnight. There are two flood warnings in place in Yorkshire, one on the River Aire at Brotherton Marsh and the other at Eabeck, north of Doncaster.

The spokesman said: "Everything has started to go down but it will take a while for the river levels to drop because we had a lot of rain yesterday." He said the warnings would probably stay in place for a while, but stressed that no property was at risk as the floods mainly affected agricultural land and minor roads.

It is the second time in two weeks that North Yorkshire has been hit by floods. A week ago the Pickering area had its average monthly rainfall for August in just 48 hours. The spokesman said: "Between 25mm and 30mm of rain fell in the 24 hours from Thursday night to early Friday. That is not as much as we had the previous week.

"There's not much more rain to fall over the weekend. It should be dry and fine on Sunday, so we are not anticipating too many problems."

Householders forced to abandon their homes because of rising water took refuge in a Salvation Army hostel which was set up in Mitford Street, Filey. Others opted to stay put.

North Yorkshire police praised the positive attitude of local people who rallied around to help neighbours and made a tough job for officers easier. But they were critical of drivers who did not slow down to pass through flood waters, sending waves crashing into people's homes and causing damage.