Flood heroes have a date with the Prime Minister tonight as he says thank-you for their fight against disaster.

Tony Blair and his wife Cherie have invited 200 guests who worked to beat November's floods to their Downing Street home on Monday, including many from York, Ryedale and Selby.

Among those who will hob-nob with the country's premier is Martin Horner, City of York Council's civil engineering manager who spearheaded the massive sand-bagging effort as the River Ouse approached its peak.

He said today: "It's an honour for the whole authority, not just myself. I'm going as a representative of the team because they put in a great effort.

"I met Prince Charles when he came to York, so I suppose this is the next stage in my meeting celebrities. I'm not particularly nervous, but I am looking forward to it."

Other council officers heading from York for the reception include John Hocking, assistant director of housing services, Brenda Furk, a manager in community services, and Maggie Brown, administrations assistant for strategic policy and citizens' initiatives.

Mr Horner said: "I am looking forward to having a chat with Tony, but I'll just see what he says to me and play it by ear. I haven't got anything specific that I want to say to him.

"There'll be a lot of people there and I can't go over and tap him on the shoulder and say 'Tony, have you got a minute? There are a few things I want to say to you.' I'll wait and see if he wants to talk to me.

"It will certainly be a great experience to see what's behind that black door, where all those important decisions have been made."

Updated: 08:25 Monday, January 22, 2001