WORK to cut down the risk of raw sewage getting into the region's rivers and watercourses is to be carried out by Yorkshire Water over the next three years.

The company plans to abandon, upgrade or screen more than 1,000 sewer overflows by the end of 2005, almost one a day for the next three years.

In this region, the work will take place at Pickering, Whitby, Thirsk, Harrogate, Rawcliffe in York, Northallerton, Ripon and Tadcaster.

Yorkshire Water said sewer overflows were designed to alleviate pressure on the sewers when they became overloaded, either because of mechanical breakdowns, blockages or during heavy downpours.

But some of the region's Victorian sewers were never designed to cope with the increased volumes of sewage and effluent generated by new homes and businesses.

Updated: 11:04 Thursday, September 27, 2001