Floods profiteering claim

Traders in Norton have angrily denied rumours they profited from people's misery by raising prices during last week's devastating flooding. Stephen Shaw, who owns The Bakery, in Church Street, reopened yesterday after being forced to shut for a week due to flooding.

He said: "There's a rumour going around that I was selling bread at £2 a loaf during the floods, but I wasn't even producing bread."

And Ray King, owner of the Costcutter store in Commercial Street, scotched rumours that his shop had put up the price of bread and milk.

"What have I got to gain from doing that? I would lose all my custom. I have heard the rumours and there is not a grain of truth in them," he insisted.

"I am very concerned about where these rumours started, but I suppose I will never find out. For three-quarters of last Monday, we had no bread or milk because people delivering were being stopped coming through by police.

"When we did get supplies in, there is no way our prices went up."

Mr King also questioned Ryedale District Council's decision to allow Safeway to sell food from a van in Church Street, Norton, on Thursday.

He said: "I was told they had permission from Ryedale House to sell food from a van. Why didn't they contact me? Apart from that period on Monday, my shelves were bursting full. It's not just me who is affected, it's every shop owner in the street.

"I don't want this to sound like sour grapes. If I had taken a van up to Castlegate and sold provisions there, I know I would have been moved on."

John Patten, deputy chief executive of the council, defended the decision to let Safeway sell food in Norton.

He said: "We were in the middle of the crisis and people were worried that they would run out of food, particularly fresh bread. Safeway asked if they could help. We were trying to help the community."

Ian Sassoon, manager of the Malton Safeway store, said: "We have had a lot of positive reactions from people about what we did. We were reacting to the situation and to requests from customers."

Ryedale district councillor Elizabeth Shields said: "I have heard complaints about shops putting up prices, but nobody has alleged any particular firm was doing this."

She said: "I just hope it isn't true when so many people have had such a disastrous time. It would be really unfair to try to make a profit out of people's misfortune."

Coun Shields said she would prefer to highlight the actions of traders who had shown great community spirit.

"Pizza Master in Commercial Street gave free food to people in Scarborough Road during the initial period when nobody had heat or cooking facilities," she said.

...but Asda show they care

Free food has been handed out in water-logged Elvington by staff from a York superstore, which wanted to help turn the tide on the flooded villagers' fortunes.

Wendy Neale, foreground, and Andrew Pearson, of Asda at Monks Cross, distribute some of their free food in Elvington

The Bishop of Selby, the Right Rev Humphrey Taylor, hands over the £1,000 cheque to the Dean of York, the Very Rev Raymond Furnell

It was all hands to the pumps at the Asda store, at Monks Cross, as vital supplies including bread, cheese, cereal and soup were sorted into carrier-bag loads before being loaded on to an articulated lorry bound for the village, which was deluged by the River Derwent last week.

Speaking as she helped to bag up the tins of corned beef and bags of tomatoes, public relations officer Wendy Neale said Asda store manager Richard Woodhall had come up with idea to help its customers through a rough patch.

"It's not much - just a few staples - but it is something we can do to help."

Elvington was marooned last week when the worst floods in living memory hit the village last week as the River Derwent burst it banks.

Peter Moulton found himself stranded, unable to drive into Elvington or the neighbouring village of Sutton-on-Derwent because of the flood water.

Picking up his bags of Asda groceries, he said: "It's nice that a big company like Asda is concerned about the plight of people in Elvington."

And fellow villager Barbara Shipley said any contributions were gladly received.

Bags of shopping were also distributed at the local school and Tom Fitzgerald, of Elvington Village Store, volunteered to give out the bags of groceries to senior citizens.

Meanwhile, professional builders are warning flood victims that cowboys could be cashing in on their misery.

The Federation of Master Builders is warning those engaged in the great mop-up to steer clear of rogue traders and make sure they contact a reputable firm.

Ron Wilson, regional director of the Yorkshire and Trent FMB, said many people would be distraught by the damage caused by the floods and cowboy builders could prey on their vulnerability.

The Bishop of Selby today received £1,000 to help victims of the flooding.

The Right Rev Humphrey Taylor received the cheque from Dean of York, the Very Rev Raymond Furnell, given from the Dean and Chapter Donation Funds.

The Bishop of Selby, as the head of the Archdeaconry of York which includes Malton, Norton and Stamford Bridge, collected the money on behalf of the Ryedale Churches Together Flood Response.

MP offers advice to flood victims

Ryedale's Tory MP John Greenway is to hold a surgery for constituents to discuss issues arising from the recent floods.

But he's had to move the surgery, at 9.30am on Saturday, to the Ryedale Community House, in Wentworth Street, Malton, rather than hold it in his own constituency office in Town Street, Old Malton - because that was flooded.

Mr Greenway said: "There are some people who will feel reluctant to approach some of the agencies and might want some advice, or might wish to talk about some particular offer which has to be kept confidential."

The MP also commented on this week's launch of four funds under the umbrella of Ryedale Flood Response.

Funds have been set up by Churches Together in Ryedale; Malton & Norton Rotary Club; Malton, Norton & District Lions; and the Malton & District branch of Soroptimist International.

Mr Greenway said: "It's indicative of the spontaneous response to what people saw in their own community from organisations and groups whose aims and objectives are to bring local charitable relief to people in genuine need."

For an appointment to see Mr Greenway, telephone 01653 692023.

Meanwhile, Norton car dealer Stephen Smith is back in business - and sleeping soundly in his own bed again - after the devastating floods of last week. The Welham Road premises of Renault dealer Barker-Smith Ltd were on the route of the Duke of York as he viewed the extent of the flood damage on Monday.

Mr Smith, the firm's managing director, said: "We have quite a few cars that are damaged.

"But the biggest worry for us is the buildings. We had the builder around yesterday and he frightened us to death."

Mr Smith said the garage's new workshop, across the road from the showroom, was left under 5ft of floodwater.

As the River Derwent rose and rose, he arranged for five cars to be placed on blocks inside the showroom to keep them above the height of the floodwater.

"I slept here for two nights," Mr Smith said. "We have a lounge and a kitchen upstairs, so I used that and had food ferried in by boat."

At a meeting on Monday at Ryedale District Council's headquarters, a steering group was formed to co-ordinate the administration of the four separate funds. Organisations represented include North Yorkshire social services, Ryedale Council for Voluntary Action, the Red Cross and the Citizens' Advice Bureau.

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