ENVIRONMENT chiefs have reassured York residents and visitors that Shambles will NOT be under water by 2070 - despite a national newspaper's suggestion that this could happen if the climate emergency is not tackled.

The Daily Mirror's front page yesterday showed an artist's impression of a woman wading along half a metre of floodwaters in the historic York street.

The headline read:"If we don't act now... this is our future,' and a caption to the picture said: "York 2070: how flooded city may look."The story said the 'hard-hitting image' was part of a Mirror special investigation to sound the alarm about rising sea levels.

But Shambles is about 15 metres above sea level and has never been threatened with flooding from the Ouse and Foss, and a spokesperson at the Environment Agency told The Press:“We’d like to reassure York residents that even with our climate change projections, The Shambles area of York will not be under water by 2070."

It said the agency was investing £45 million on defences in York to reduce flood risk to over 2,000 properties and make the city more resilient to climate change, adding: "The climate emergency, and the more extreme weather it is causing, means that we cannot always prevent or build our way out of a flood. That’s why we’re also working with partners to help households, businesses and communities be better prepared and more resilient to flooding."

Ashley Young, of Make It York, said Shambles had been used as a 'shocking example of the potential effects of the climate crisis in 2070.'He said: "Whilst we recognise that this is a vitally important issue, which needs tackling on a local and national scale, we are also keen to ensure that this specific image doesn't give rise to fears from future visitors during any potential periods of high river levels in the city.

"A huge amount of work has been done by City of York Council and the Environment Agency to protect our historic city and ensure flood defences are in place - and when river levels do rise, all of our shops, restaurants and attractions are used to working together to keep York open for business."

The council said it was 'unrealistic' to suggest areas of the city like Shambles would experience flooding in the foreseeable future.

Cllr Paula Widdowson, executive member for climate change, said: “Whilst the scenario pictured is an exaggeration, we welcome the attention that is being drawn to this important subject."

She said rising sea levels would impact large parts of London and the East side of England before Shambles, and therefore, action was required across society.