Villagers near Selby who claim their main road is the only one in Yorkshire still closed by floodwater today demanded action to end their misery.

The B1223 road in the centre of Ryther is under two feet of water and getting deeper, causing all kinds of problems for stranded residents.

Rosie Hick, of Ryther Hall, said River Wharfe levels were so high, water from a drainage ditch could not escape into the river and was backing up on to fields and the main road.

She said: "We are looking out on to a lake, and our five-barred gate is now a two-barred gate - it's horrendous and getting worse.

"We are one of six houses cut off from the rest of the village because of water coming off the fields, which are now completely saturated.

"We have to travel via Cawood to get to Ulleskelf or Tadcaster, while residents at the other side of the floodwater have to make massive diversions to get to Selby.

"Dustbin wagons are also having to make a big detour, and some people are walking along a muddy embankment and climbing over stiles to get to the other side."

The Environment Agency, which says the problem is not its responsibility, has agreed to help out by sending a pump - but Mrs Hick says it is making no difference, and is like using a thimble to empty a bath.

Ryther parish councillor Malcolm Fisher said the village badly needed a pumping station on the floodbank. Mother-of-two Yanna Hall said her two sons, Aaron, 14, and Glenn, 11, were managing to get to Selby High School by walking along the floodbank in their wellies before catching the bus. She said: "It's getting worse and soon we will be completely cut off."

North Yorkshire County Council highways engineers said they had put up flood warning and road closed signs, but there was not much else they could do.

* The Evening Press has sent a cheque for £1,190 to the York Flood Relief Fund being organised by the Dean of York, the Very Rev Raymond Furnell. The money was raised in a raffle held at the finals of the Evening Press Business Awards at the Merchant Adventurers' Hall on November 30.