Flood-sick Ryedale residents plan to build their own defences to stop their homes being flooded for a third time.

Householders in Old Malton will build a 400-yard long and 5ft high wall of sandbags near the River Derwent to prevent the waters coming as far as their homes.

Old Malton has been hit by floods twice in the last two years - residents say by the time Malton and Norton's defences are built the floods could return.

Juliet Stimpson, manager of the Royal Oak pub in Old Malton, which lies opposite the banks of the River Derwent, said about 70 villagers were involved in the scheme.

"It is a temporary measure and it might not work but we'd rather being doing something positive instead of waiting around for the waters to arrive," she said.

The defences were proposed at residents' meetings held after the floods at the end of last year, said Mrs Stimpson, whose pub bore the brunt of the flooding in Old Malton.

"We felt as if nothing was being done - this was the second time we had been flooded in 18 months," she said.

"If it is going to take them so long to build flood defences in Malton and Norton there is a high chance the River Derwent will flood again.

"Hopefully our defences will hold out but I suspect that if it rises above a certain height it will start letting in water.

"If this happens we have about 70 residents involved who will be on shifts to operate the pumps and keep the wall steady."

Updated: 11:46 Friday, February 16, 2001