FLOODING fears in Ryedale were today eased after environment chiefs pledged nearly £250,000 towards a protection scheme.

The £700,000 project has been devised in an attempt to slow down the progress of flood water from upper catchment areas into rivers and watercourses in Pickering and Sinnington.

It will involve planting trees and blocking moorland drains.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced it was contributing £247,000 to the initiative.

A spokesmas said: “Woodland planting can slow down water flows by improving soil structure, reducing erosion and improving water absorption.”

The move was welcomed by Pickering Flood Defence Group spokesman Howard Keal. “It’s a very welcome project but it’s hugely important to realise that this is only a very small part of the overall picture in terms of flooding in Pickering.”

In June 2007, the town was hit by the worst flooding residents could remember. There were scenes of devastation after the town’s beck burst its banks, spilling filthy water into homes and businesses.

A day of torrential rain caused waters to rise more than six feet, flooding homes and shops in Beck Isle, Park Street, Market Place and the Ropery.

Jeff Pacey, Ouse catchment project manager at the Environment Agency, said: “We will use information from this river catchment to see whether this type of approach will work in other locations across the country.”

Mr Keal said: “Improved land management will go some way to reducing the long-term flood risk, but only by a relatively small amount, and it’s still the case that flood defences in the form of either walls or up stream storage are still desperately needed.”

The Pickering Beck and River Seven venture is a partnership between Forest Research, the research arm of the Forestry Commission, the Environment Agency, the North York Moors National Park, Natural England and the Regional Flood Defence Committee. The Defra funding is part of £28 millionto help communities adapt to changing flood risk in the face of climate change.

An Environment Agency spokesman said the scheme would test out the different techniques in the hope that they would reduce the risk of flooding in the Pickering and Sinnington area.

“The aim is to change the way the land is used in the Vale of Pickering in the hope it will slow down the water going into Pickering Beck,” he said.