GREATER action is needed to stop children and vulnerable pensioners being cut off by flooding, a York councillor and resident said today.

Keith Aspden, Fulford representative on City of York Council, says it was impossible for some local residents to pass Fordlands Road during recent floods, and has called on the council to provide more help.

He said: "It is very important that all residents in the Fordlands Road area, especially schoolchildren and older residents, have sufficient help should any further flooding occur in this area."

Fordlands Road resident Christine Dinsdale said: "When the A19 is flooded Fordlands Road floods, causing inconvenience to the residents of the more than 300 houses. Urgent plans are needed now to lesson the disruption."

Coun Aspden has asked the council's emergency planning team to consider the problem when planning responses to future flooding, and council officers have now agreed to include it in their action plans. Council officers are exploring hiring a large Land Rover 4x4 for the duration of any flooding, so that pedestrians can be ferried across the flooded section of road, and to deal with any other issues on a case by case basis.

Coun Aspden added: "I am pleased that the council has agreed to write this into the emergency plan, so that council officers can help to ferry pedestrians across the flooded section of the road.

"With any implications from the new Germany Beck housing development, it makes the need for community consultation and help on flooding an even more important issue in the local area.

"I will work with local residents and the parish council to highlight and seek to ensure that we do not see any detrimental effects for existing residents from flooding."

Thousands of motorists were caught in delays last week, when the A19 was closed due to flooding.

Persimmon Homes Yorkshire has told The Press it hopes to start work on raising the height of the A19 above flood level within two years, ahead of work on the massive Germany Beck housing scheme, which will see 700 new homes built on land east of the main road.

Jim Breen, emergency planning officer at City of York Council, said: "As is the case after every flooding event, council officers met once the river levels started to recede, to review the authority's actions and consider any issues that had arisen.

"It is this attention to detail, coupled with the hard work of council staff prior to and during a flood event, which has made the city of York flood plan one which other authorities look to as an example of good practice. It is however a plan which manages the response to a flood and mitigates its effects - it cannot prevent flooding happening.

"Fordlands Road floods when there is a combination of high water levels in Germany Beck and high water levels in the River Ouse. It has been agreed that, whenever the situation arises in future, the council will hire a ten-seater 4x4 vehicle to ferry residents across the flooded section of road.

"This is not the sort of vehicle we would have any use for in normal circumstances so we believe the hiring option represents the best value for money whilst allowing us to offer much needed assistance to the residents of the area."