SIR Jimmy Savile today handed over £1,000 for the Archbishop of York's new Flood Fund.

And he suggested that Prince Charles, who visited flood victims in the York and Selby area last Friday, could boost the appeal by donating a watercolour to be raffled off.

The veteran TV personality and disc jockey was helping to 'fix it' for a thousand flood victims across North and East Yorkshire by kick-starting a flood relief fund set up by the Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope.

Sir Jimmy said in York today: "We have had a flood that didn't do anybody any good, so let's have a flood of money from the dry people to help the damp people.

"For the flooded people, when they get up every day they are facing a disaster which doesn't go away."

Sir Jimmy handed over a cheque for £1,000 from the Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust for the Archbishop's Fund and another one for £500 to help the Rotherham flood fund, which will be sent on by the Evening Press to the Rotherham local authority.

The Archbishop said last week he was setting up an account to which people could send donations.

He said today he had already received more than a dozen cheques, for about £500.

"They range from cheques for £100 to one for £1 from an elderly person," he said.

"People just say they want to help. It's very moving really."

He said the account had opened, and cheques could be made payable to The Archbishop's Flood Fund, and sent to him at Bishopthorpe Palace.

He said the discretionary fund would pay money out on a discretionary basis to people in real need.

A spokeswoman for Prince Charles said today that he sometimes donated lithographs to be auctioned off for charity, and if a request was made to the Prince he would consider it.

mike.laycock@ycp.co.uk