A PLEA is to be made for people forced out of their homes by the Derwent floods to be granted council tax relief.

Malton Town Council is to write to Ryedale District Council making the suggestion.

At their monthly meeting, Malton councillors also decided to match Norton Town Council's £1,000 donation to victims of the flood.

The Mayor of Malton, Councillor David Lloyd-Williams, said: "We should write to the district council and say that concern is being expressed and could they give assistance to those affected.

"If you have a prolonged inability to enjoy the building in which you live, you should qualify for a substantial rebate. It may be that the district council and the Citizens' Advice Bureau should be able to produce a leaflet quickly about this."

Former Mayor of Malton, Coun Martin Dales, criticised the public meeting held on Tuesday at St Peter's Street, Norton, to discuss problems caused by the floods. He said that no representatives from organisations like the Environment Agency or Yorkshire Water were there to answer people's questions.

He said: "People were worried and there was no one there to even give a hint of an answer. That was because no one was invited. There should have been someone there to take either flak or praise.

"We should support very much the idea of an independent inquiry. It would be independent and would have a balanced view to which everyone can contribute."

The town council meeting also discussed the cause of the floods, and the possibility that conservation had contributed to the problems.

Coun Lloyd-Williams said: "The balance might have gone too far towards animal life rather than human life. One would not like to see a 20ft wall through the town, but there is a case for strengthening the banks of the river - there may be a way of raising them.

"We can only learn from the lessons of the flood. Each time it happens, a little bit more is learned about what is going wrong."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.