ENVIRONMENT Minister Richard Benyon is being invited to make a fact-finding visit to Malton and Norton after the floods.

Thirsk, Malton and Filey MP, Anne McIntosh, said she is due to question the minister this week as chairman of the Government’s Environment Food and Rural Affairs committee.

She is also expected to have a more in-depth meeting with Mr Benyon and Secretary of State for the Environment, Owen Patterson when the committee meets again next month.

Ms McIntosh, visiting homes and businesses hit by the floods, said she wants to see one per cent of the six per cent tax levied on home contents insurance, put into a ring-fenced fund which would help provide insurance cover for people whose homes are hit in floods nationwide.

“The defences held in what was their first real test, but there is a real need to examine the drainage systems and the surface run-off of water. We have got to do more between flooding incidents rather than wait until they occur.”

Ms McIntosh said she wants the Government to implement the Sustainable Drainage Act regulations of 2010 which aimed to ascertain ownership of drains.

She believed the £1.9 million flood defence scheme for Pickering, currently on the drawing board and awaiting final approval in the next few weeks from Ryedale District Council and the Regional Flood Partnership, could be replicated to the benefit of Malton, Norton and the village of Sinnington if the geography of the area was found to be suitable.