A £5.3m bill to prevent flooding in villages north of York would be a price worth paying - according to the York Evening Press.

The Press has launched a new campaign to Save Ryedale From Flooding, after a disastrous flood last year ruined houses in Malton, Norton and Pickering.

And the campaign is being led by two journalists, Howard and Di Keal, whose Norton home was badly flooded last year.

The couple - both former Lincolnshire Echo journalists - and their daughters Hannah, Molly and Emily, had to live away from their home for 10 months last year while it underwent extensive repairs.

Helping launch the campaign from the banks of the Derwent at Norton, Di said: "When the flood struck, every room downstairs was totally wrecked."

She added that the fear it might happen all over again was always at the back of her mind.

The paper has already revealed exclusively that experts believe it would cost £4 million to protect Malton and Norton - and another £1.3 million to defend Pickering.

But locals believe other works - to cut back on overgrown bankside vegetation and dredge silt from the river beds - should be carried out now to reduce the risk of another flood

The Press has launched a petition demanding urgent action.

The Press itself told readers: "We believe that £5.3 million is a price worth paying to prevent a repeat of the misery and disruption caused last year when the River Derwent and Pickering Beck both burst their banks."

And Ryedale MP John Greenway has thrown his full support behind the campaign - agreeing to present the petition to the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee in the New Year.

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