Vandals smashed windows at flooded properties and slashed sandbags, a Ryedale man has claimed.

Colin Stevens, of the Salvation Army in Norton, said that at the height of the floods, unscrupulous people preyed on those who had been forced away from their homes.

"During the floods, about nine windows at a Salvation Army building were smashed and I know there have been flooded residents who have had similar experiences," he said.

"It is very disheartening for this to happen to people when they were at their weakest. We also suffered from people moving sandbags and slashing them, which quickened the process of flooding.

"Again I know there are residents who have had similar experiences and though in the end the sandbags proved useless, moving the bags meant properties were flooded faster than they would have otherwise have been."

Inspector Neil Burnett said panes of glass were broken at a building owned by the Salvation Army, but the incidents were unconnected with the floods.

"The building was in a bit of state because of water damage and this tends to attract small acts of vandalism. But these incidents took place after the waters had gone down. "As for the sandbags being slashed, we have no reports of this; thousands of them were issued at the time and many became damaged naturally."

Updated: 10:43 Wednesday, January 24, 2001