Hundreds of sandbags are to be delivered to vulnerable villages across the Hambleton district to help cope with future floods.

Hambleton District Council is hoping to have stocks in villages early in the New Year, with Newton-on-Ouse, near York, and Coxwold, near Easingwold, among the first to agree on locations where sandbags can be kept.

As householders and business owners are urged to stay on alert, local farmers and parish councils have been asked to help find storage points for sandbags to enable residents to draw upon stocks quickly.

The district council is awaiting delivery of a £5,000 sandbag-filling machine to speed the process along.

During the autumn floods, more than 15,000 sandbags were deployed across Hambleton, a massive rise on the 500 distributed during the last serious floods.

They were all filled by hand by volunteers - local people and council officers.

"We have had a very positive response to our requests for storage areas for sandbags," said Peter Simpson, chief executive of Hambleton District Council.

"Everyone here at Hambleton is working hard to try to prevent such widespread disruption happening again.

"Our floodlines are on constant alert and our emergency control room can be reopened very quickly. We are all on high alert and intend to remain that way for the foreseeable future."

He said: "As many people continue with the clean-up operation after last month's floods, we are looking to the future. We want people to be aware of just how much they can do for themselves."

Together with representatives of other agencies, including the Environment Agency, district council officers are examining flooding hotspots to see if anything can be done to prevent a repeat performance.

The Environment Agency is hoping to be able to issue flood alerts for all major watercourses in the future.

That would mean that watercourses under the care of the Inland Drainage Boards, of which four cover Hambleton, could be under the scheme.

Mr Simpson added: "As soon as that information is collated, we will let everyone know. Issuing warnings for smaller water courses, like Cod Beck in Thirsk, would be a great step forward.

"It will make a huge difference to the people of Hambleton whose homes and businesses lie close to these waterways."

For copies of the district council's After The Floods leaflet or to ask advice, call 01609 779977.