The GOVERNMENT's Yorkshire flooding envoy, Robert Goodwill MP, has come back to the county to see how people are recovering from the December floods.

Mr Goodwill, who is the MP for Scarborough and a Transport Minister, met North Yorkshire County Council bosses to talk about progress on repairs for the county’s major infrastructure.

The MP said: "I was very pleased to get updates on the ongoing work on the temporary footbridge in Tadcaster, the plan to reconstruct the bridge, and the work under way to stabilise the A59 at Kexgill. I was also pleased that central Government could step in to help North Yorkshire as part of its flood response.”

The Government has so far agreed to give £3 million in funds to the county council for the reconstruction of Tadcaster’s main bridge and £300,000 for a temporary footbridge.

He also heard about the council's plans to manage flooding risks into the future - with upstream "slow the flow" work to stop water getting to vulnerable homes and businesses.

Mr Goodwill added: “North Yorkshire is doing the right thing by looking at strategic water management issues including upstream measures. This means water can be held for longer in the uplands to prevent flooding in towns and villages.”

County Cllr Les added: "This has been a very constructive meeting. It has provided the county council with the chance to show the determined headway we have been making with the work to tackle flood damage at Tadcaster and Kexgill. These are complex, challenging operations requiring high skilled engineering and we were delighted to be able to show the Minister our plans and give an update on the good progress we are making.

"We were also glad to have the opportunity to present our plans for schemes in the medium and longer term which will help to ‘slow the flow’ and therefore protect communities by keeping water upstream for as long as possible."

Work started on the temporary footbridge over the Wharfe in Tadcaster last week, and engineers are draining the land-slip risk land above the A59 at Kex Gill.