AN OLD Malton resident has accused environment bosses of vandalism to a riverbank after work was carried out to cut the risk of flooding in the village.

Mike Kitching, who lives in Old Malton, says water pumped from a ditch behind St Mary’s Church in the village has caused a tree to slip, still upright, into the river, damaging part of the riverbank.

The ditch was drained by contractors for the Environment Agency between January 12 and January 16, to replace an underwater valve.

Mr Kitching says the two hydraulic pumps used to drain the ditch discharged the water, not into the river, 30 metres away, but onto a field 15 metres away.

This water then ran towards the riverbank, which Mr Kitching says he is “1,000 per cent sure” caused the bank to cave in, uprooting a 25-year-old ash tree, and pushing it into the centre of the river.

Mr Kitching said: “What they’ve done here is just vandalism. That tree won’t survive, and this is ancient land, part of the priory.

“All the brick work and bits of stone in the soil are very old, and it is a shame it has been washed into the river.”

Mr Kitching says he does not believe the situation to be the fault of the contractors, but says he has had several conversations with the Environment Agency to see how it is going to fix it.

He says although the Environment Agency says the water was pumped onto the land so it did not pollute the river, he thinks the water in the stream is very clean, and the need to avoid damage to the bank far outweighs the risk of water pollution.

Environment Agency officer Matt Smith said: “We have been carrying out essential work to help reduce the risk of flooding to more than 40 homes in Old Malton.

“The work meant we had to lower the level of water in a nearby stream and, as a result, the water was heavy with disturbed sediments.

“By pumping straight into the Derwent, the pollution could have affected the river’s ecosystem.

“However, by pumping the water on to grass, a recognised engineering technique called ‘pumping to grass’, allows the water to be filtered as it trickles back into the river.

“Bank slippages are common and we do not know whether our essential work was the sole cause of this slip.

“However, we have spoken to Mr Kitching on several occasions to reassure him that the bank will be reinstated, and trees replanted as soon as river and ground conditions allow.”