AN MP is demanding an investigation in to the cause of flooding in a North Yorkshire town.

Tadcaster's MP Nigel Adams says he's asked North Yorkshire County Council to investigate after homes in the town were flooded last night after a heavy downpour.

As The Press reported at the time, emergency services were called in after flash flooding entered homes in the North Yorkshire town.

Mr Adams said that the flood water on this occasion came up through the drains during a short period of heavy rain.

Bridge Street was flooded and emergency pumps were brought in to pump the water away into the River Wharfe which due to the long dry spell was at an exceptionally low level. The flood water brought with it a large quantity of silt and a nasty smell.

Mr Adams said: “I have demanded an immediate investigation into this event. The level of water in the river is exceptionally and this event was entirely due to the local drainage system failing to cope with the amount of rain.

"The Environment Agency are well advanced with the design of an £11 million scheme to protect the town from river flooding. This is an entirely different problem to that which the Environment Agency are addressing and I have asked North Yorkshire County Council and Yorkshire Water to investigate.

"It is simply not acceptable that the main road through the centre of Tadcaster floods in this way, especially when the river is at an exceptionally low level.”

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service say they were called in shortly before 9pm last night (July 26) to Bridge Street in Tadcaster.

A spokesman for the service said: "A crew from Tadcaster attended reports of flash flooding on Bridge Street caused by a downpour of rainfall lasting about 30 minutes

"It is thought water entered at least two properties and came very close to entering others.

"Crews pumped the water away into the river and the rain passed. main pump, hose, lighting and wading poles used."

As The Press reported last night, Kirsty Poskitt, of Tadcaster Community Action Group and a North Yorkshire county councillor, said Bridge Street flooded after heavy rain at about 8.30pm on Tuesday evening.

"This isn't a new problem. It’s happened numerous times," she said.

"The drainage isn’t satisfactory and the drains are never cleared, so it makes us even more vulnerable when the river fills but also with heavy sudden rainfall.

"This isn't the responsibility of the Environment Agency, it is the responsibility of North Yorkshire County Council."

"My thoughts are as always with the businesses and homes on Bridge Street and Commercial Street, because even if the water doesn’t make it into buildings this time, the stress and anxiety just seeing the water causes is immeasurable."

North Yorkshire County Council’s corporate director of business and environmental services, Karl Battersby, said: “We are very conscious of the stress and concern that residents and businesses in Tadcaster have faced with recent flooding events. We are carrying out a formal investigation of the flooding events in February, called a section 19 report, which will be published in September as an update to the previous flood investigation report published in 2017.

“In terms of yesterday’s event, the level of rainfall should not have led to flash flooding. Yorkshire Water are investigating the cause of the problems around Bridge Street, and we will work with them to understand why this occurred.  

“Initial views are that there was a blockage in the system, which combined with the short but heavy rainfall led to the surface water flooding. As soon as the investigation is complete, we will feed back the findings and the steps that are being taken.  

“I can confirm that gullies in the Bridge Street area were last cleaned by the county council on June 14 this year, with no problems recorded.”