Flood-stricken residents have spoken of their despair and disbelief after heavy rains caused becks at Pickering and Sinnington to breach their banks.

The peace of Sinnington was shattered when heavy rains swelled the River Seven.

About ten homes there were flooded, while other residents were left stranded after the waters cut off roads at both ends of the village.

At Pickering, residents living near the Beck Isle Museum fought a losing battle as water seeped through stacked sandbags and home-made defences into their homes.

Flooding in Westgate, the main road through Pickering, caused traffic congestion in the town centre and tailbacks along the A170 and the A169 in all directions.

Sinnington resident Elizabeth Somerville's home was flooded twice in the space of three hours.

"I have lived here for 30 years and I am now so sick, that for the first time I am seriously considering moving away from here," she said, during a break from cleaning up the mess left by filthy river water.

"I have had a good cry and I am in the process of cleaning everything up. I have already had two doses of this, once in 1999 and then again in 2000.

"I came downstairs at 3am and it was about two inches deep. The water level went down slightly, so we started cleaning it up.

"We had done about two hours work, but then before we knew it the water came flooding back in again.

"I have never seen it so bad in this village. It is an absolute nightmare."

At Pickering, the floodwaters entered the main lounge in the Rose Inn, near Beck Isle.

Landlord Peter Fisher said he was gutted.

"Who would have thought it would flood in August, right at the height of the tourist season when I do some of my best business?" he said.

Pensioner Topsy Clinch, who lives near the Beck Isle Museum, was desperate to keep the water out of her house.

But even as the Evening Press was speaking to her, the waters breached the defences she had put in place at her front door.

"I am as sick as a parrot," she said.

"In the last three years I have spent two years and three months living upstairs because of the amount of times I have been flooded. It looks like I am going to have to move up there again.

"It seems to be happening so often, I would be better off with a boat rather than a car."

Updated: 09:58 Saturday, August 03, 2002