Huge hole in flood-damaged road (From Gazette & Herald)

Huge hole in flood-damaged road

5:07pm Tuesday 2nd October 2012 in News By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

A HUGE hole has been exposed in a North Yorkshire road, after receding floodwaters revealed the extent of the damage they had caused.

Half of the road between Linton on Ouse and Newton on Ouse, near Easingwold, collapsed after the nearby River Ouse burst its banks and poured into a culvert, taking some of the road with it, said North Yorkshire County Council.

“The council is currently investigating how to get the road open as quickly as possible, though the damage is substantial,” said a spokeswoman.

In York, meanwhile, the narrow boat which sank as the Ouse rose last week has become visible again, as the river level continues to lower. The boat took on water while moored near Museum Gardens last week.

Also in York, Kelly Bailey, landlady of The Jubilee pub in the Leeman Road area, whose beer cellar was deeply flooded last week, said it would be at least a week before she could re-open the pub.

She said firefighters pumped the remaining four feet of floodwater out on Monday but there was still thick mud in the cellar and it would need thorougly cleaning and sanitising before electricians could get to work and equipment could be replaced.

The county council says the swing bridge at Cawood, near Selby, would stay closed in coming days, as the road through Kelfield Ings beyond Cawood Bridge was still under water.

“Kelfield Ings is used as a flood plain to protect Selby and a flood of this magnitude can take up to two weeks to drain,” she said.

“However, the county council is keeping a close eye on water levels and working with the Environment Agency to pump water back into the river to clear the area as quickly as possible.”

She said the authority had re-opened 50 of more than70 bridges and roads across the county which closed following the worst floods for 12 years.

Meanwhile, Selby District Council leader Mark Crane has hailed the ‘tremendous effort’ shown as the community worked together to deal with flooding.

He added: ”I'd like to thank everyone for their continued work to help protect potentially vulnerable areas. It really shows that we can pull together in times of need and pool our resources across different public services in order to protect people.”