EXPERTS are to be quizzed tonight by councillors looking into the issues surrounding flooding in York.

Representatives of the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water Services have agreed to attend the third meeting of City of York Council's floods scrutiny committee.

The meeting comes as winter approaches and fears are rising about the possibility of further flooding in the area.

A report to the committee says the outside experts will be able to answer questions from councillors.

"These will cover both general matters and issues relating to specific locations that were affected by the flooding."

It adds that the next steps for the committee to take could include getting an internal progress report on the council's "floods debrief", inviting York Police commander Chief Superintendent Gary Barnett to give an update on police progress since their own flooding report, and agreeing how to involve ward committees and parish councils in affected areas. It could also involve investigating a means of keeping the public informed of findings, and deciding a future direction for scrutiny.

The latter could focus on a few specific areas of concern, or continue with a more general approach to the issues.

Updated: 11:33 Wednesday, October 10, 2001