Angry residents and businessmen have called on Environment Agency officers to "get off their backsides" and save Ryedale from another flooding disaster.

More than 250 people attended a public meeting to discuss the recent floods which inundated about 100 properties in Norton, Malton and Old Malton, and what can be done to prevent the Derwent bursting its banks again.

They demanded a flood prevention scheme as soon as possible, with strong support for the Evening Press campaign calling for measures to end the flooding threat.

But residents said that, in the meantime, the agency should dredge the river to speed up the flow and reduce the risks.

Norton businessman Paul Tait-Smith, owner of soft drinks company Sundella, warned the agency that his company could not survive another flood.

"My family has been here for five generations," he said. "It will not be here for much longer if you don't get off your backsides and do something."

The public meeting, held last night at St Peter's Church Room in Norton, was addressed by Craig McGarvey and Peter Holmes of the Environment Agency and Roy Ward, chairman of the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee.

They told residents that a flood defence scheme has been scheduled for 2002/2003, but that the agency would like to see it brought forward a year. Mr Ward said the Treasury had to be won over before cash could be released.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said last week that an extra £51m from the Government was designed to accelerate river flood defence works, but it was for the agency to decide which schemes to promote and their timing,

Residents were not happy with this, with one shouting: "All we are getting is a load of hot air. We knew it. You are giving us nothing specific. You have people sitting in offices while we have people sitting in floods up to their ears."

Another spoke of a scheme implemented on Scarborough esplanade at a cost of £500,000, saying: "Have we ever seen any flooding in Scarborough? The answer is no. Malton and Norton have been ignored for almost nine years. It is a disgrace."

Stan Cockerill, a resident of Old Malton for 62 years, called for more dredging, comparing the Derwent to a tea cup half full of tea leaves.

"If you try and pour more tea in, it will overflow. It is obvious. If you don't do something about the river soon, you will end up with a situation like the railways on your hands," he said. To catcalls of "codswallop" the agency claimed that dredging would not prevent flooding on the scale of last year and this autumn, and said it wanted to put money into a more long-term solution.

Meeting organiser Di Keal said afterwards that she understood the frustration.

She said: "People still feel like they are banging their heads against a brick wall, and who can blame them. They feel like they are being ignored when making valid points.

"I feel frustrated like anyone else, but holding the meeting was a positive thing. We must now move forward and make sure there is no let up in the pressure."