Then the rains came

July

YORK TV licence dodgers were targeted in bus adverts declaring: "There are three homes in Etty Avenue YO10 without a television licence". Other streets were also named.

In a wizard year for Harry Potter author JK Rowling, she was mobbed by young fans at the National Railway Museum.

The Sun dubbed Nestl Rowntree boss Peter Blackburn the "most dangerous man in York" for his views on the Euro. City of York Council pledged that threatened swimming pools would not close, a victory for the Evening Press Save Our Swim campaign.

Disgraced North Yorkshire gynaecologist Richard Neale was struck off by the General Medical Council.

The Queen and Prince Philip visited York. A bumper Bootham Crescent crowd saw David Beckham's Manchester United beat York City in a pre-season friendly.

Surrey schoolgirl Sarah Payne was murdered, prompting a national backlash against paedophiles.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's 16-year-old son Euan was arrested for being "drunk and incapable" in London.

An Air France Concorde crashed into a hotel on the outskirts of Paris, killing all 114 passengers and crew on board.

England's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup was defeated - by Germany.

August

CROWDS in York listened to the new Minster bells, dedicated to the Queen Mother, ring out a tribute on her 100th birthday.

City councillor Peter Dodd, due to be the next Lord Mayor, died of cancer.

York police licensing officer Arthur Swaine was fined £75 for possessing cannabis.

Jorvik Viking Centre welcomed its 12 millionth visitor. The Old Meeting House arts centre in Helmsley was badly damaged by fire.

Storms hit North Yorkshire and twisters were spotted in the skies.

The nation was gripped by Big Brother, the Channel 4 game show featuring ten strangers sharing a house. Minster FM DJ James Watt was sacked and then reinstated in a Big Brother stunt that backfired.

House prices were soaring nearly as high as the aircraft in two rival "air spectaculars" in York on the Bank Holiday.

Chancellor Gordon Brown married Sarah Macaulay. Actor Sir Alec Guinness and broadcaster Sir Robin Day died.

More than a hundred Russian sailors died trapped in the Kursk nuclear submarine.

September

PROTESTERS campaigning for a cut in fuel prices blockaded oil refineries. Panic buying at the pumps meant that York soon ran dry.

Tony Blair scrapped a trip to York to deal with the crisis. When supplies recommenced it took several days for the country to become fully mobile again.

York was split over the Coppergate II plans. Evening Press readers who sent in a coupon asking for their opinion were four-to-one against. By contrast, our survey of shoppers found a majority in favour.

John Prescott signalled the go-ahead for a £10 million tennis centre off Hull Road, York.

An army of new-style traffic wardens armed with digital cameras took to the city streets.

Shelley House in Acomb became the first nuclear bunker to be designated as a Scheduled Monument.

Armed police were twice in the headlines. Officers shot dead Selby mercenary Kirk Davies after he threatened to shoot a Wakefield hospital worker. In York, the force began an investigation after it was reported that supplies of live ammunition had been lost.

Annette Ashton, partner of national "heart tsar" Dr Roger Boyle, was found dead at their Copmanthorpe home.

TV personality Paula Yates died at her London home. Millionaire author Lord Archer was charged with perverting the course of justice and perjury.

Rower Steve Redgrave won his fifth successive Olympic gold medal in Sydney. Craig Phillips won Big Brother.

October

FOUR people died after a high-speed train derailed at Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Widespread disruption on the railways followed as Railtrack ordered a total overhaul of track safety.

An armed siege ended safely after a man barricaded in a house in The Groves, York, with what he claimed to be a hand grenade, was arrested by police.

The Evening Press launched its campaign to Save Ryedale From Flooding, calling for better defences.

York's Millennium Bridge was finally inched into place across the Ouse.

Campaign group York Tomorrow submitted a plan to turn the area near Clifford's Tower into a park, in direct conflict with the Coppergate Riverside proposal.

Middlethorpe Manor became York's most expensive house, on the market at £2.5 million.

A rising bollard in Stonebow, York, was switched off following five accidents involving the controversial traffic obstacle.

British athletes notched up 11 Olympic gold medals - the highest tally since 1920. Kevin Keegan resigned as England manager.

Freed East End gangster Reggie Kray died. Two schoolgirls drowned after being swept away while river walking near Settle during a school trip.

November

TORRENTIAL rain brought flooding misery to much of North and East Yorkshire. Streets nearest the Ouse in York were soon underwater and an exhausting battle began to save other areas of the city from a similar fate.

In the event, the water peaked at 17ft 10ins above its normal level, the highest ever recorded. It came within two inches of breaching the Foss Flood Barrier. More than 50,000 sandbags had shored up the defences.

Villages near York were marooned, Cawood and Acaster Malbis among them.

Businesses in Ryedale and Stamford Bridge, barely recovered after the floods of March 1999, were underwater again. Residents hit by the same double disaster were in despair.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and his deputy John Prescott came to see the floods for themselves. Later Prince Charles also toured flood-hit districts.

When the waters subsided, a campaign to lure people back to York was launched.

York planners gave a conditional go-ahead to Coppergate Riverside.

Three Good Samaritans who stopped to help at a crash scene were among six people killed in an horrific pile-up on the A1 (M) near Boroughbridge. The Highways Agency said it would close the Golden Hill crawler lane on the A64, a stretch of road which claimed six lives in 18 months.

Robbers failed to pull off the world's biggest robbery after crashing through the Millennium Dome in a bulldozer and attempting to snatch £350 million of diamonds.

Siamese twin Jodie survived a complex 15-hour separation operation which ended the life of her weaker sister Mary.

A British ski instructor was among 170 people killed when a train packed with skiers caught fire in a tunnel en route to a glacier resort in Austria.

Ten-year-old Damilola Taylor was murdered in south London.

Actor Michael Caine was knighted by the Queen. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones married in New York.

December

TWO men were killed when their helicopter crashed near Sherburn-in-Elmet. Train passengers were told to reserve seats on Christmas services, or risk being stranded.

Enterprising villagers in Hovingham dug their own flood defence ditch. York's rising bollard was put out of action by a Volvo. Rocking Rudolph was also off the road due to an accident.

Police stopped 25,000 motorists over Christmas in York, Selby and Tadcaster, but none was over the drink-drive limit.

City councillor Carol Wallace, wife of council leader Rod Hills, was found dead at their Huntington Road home.

Police arrested 29 people after 17 fights broke out in York on the last Friday night before Christmas.

Prince Charles took part in a live, 40th anniversary edition of Coronation Street. Madonna and Guy Ritchie tied the knot in Scotland.