The Duke of York's historic visit to flood-damaged areas of Yorkshire was mired in controversy today as a local vicar claimed residents of Norton had felt hurt and ignored.

Walkabout: The Duke of York tours Stamford Bridge with local dignitaries

Vicar of Old Malton the Rev John Manchester praised Prince Andrew as a "people's prince" following his visit.

But the Vicar of Norton, the Rev Bill Ankers, said residents there felt angry and slighted.

Mr Ankers said those who organised the Royal visit arranged for the Duke to visit the flood control centre at Ryedale House, meet a large number of council staff and members of the emergency services and visit more than one address in Old Malton.

But on the Norton side, the Duke saw only one flood-hit business and one home before moving on to see more emergency service personnel on the St Nicholas Street car park.

To make matters worse, flood relief efforts were held up while "officials stood in lines and had their hands shaken", Mr Ankers said.

He said: "The visit was all about Malton again yesterday. There was a lot of anger in the streets that had been badly affected - in the poorer housing of Norton.

"I'm not saying anything against the Prince. I'm sure if he had known about the scale of it, he would have given us a walkabout and visited more people.

"The trauma hit people yesterday. They had kept their heads above water, literally, last week and they had shown real fighting spirit.

"But then yesterday, the help stopped while all of these officials stood in lines and had their hands shaken. Nobody even recognised the flood victims. This left a nasty taste in their mouth."

John Patten, deputy chief executive of Ryedale District Council, said today: "The community should be honoured by the fact that the Duke of York has taken time out of his itinerary to come and visit this area.

"The Duke did visit, and wanted to visit, a number of areas and a number of householders. He went to Old Malton and Norton and spoke to members of the community."

Meanwhile, the racing community has started the flood recovery ball rolling with a £1,000 donation to help affected parts of Ryedale.

Four separate funds have now been established, with a steering group called Ryedale Flood Response set up at a Ryedale House meeting yesterday to co-ordinate offers of both financial and practical help.

The first train between York and Scarborough since the start of the disaster eased slowly through Malton this morning.

Click for more about the Duke of York's visit Royal Supplement

Don't miss the Royal souvenir issue of our superb supplement, Great Floods of 1999 on sale from March 16, it will contain pictures of today's visit by the Duke of York to the flood-hit areas in Malton, Norton and Stamford Bridge.

Costing 30p, it will be available, along with the original supplement, from shops, our main reception in Walmgate, York, and our branch offices in Malton and Selby. It will also be available by post in the UK for an extra 35p. To order a copy or for further details for international readers, contact us.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.