COLLAPSIBLE flood defences which cost £500 per square metre could be used to upgrade protection for York.

City of York Council is being sent details of a system of aluminium and steel walls developed by German company IBS of Bavaria.

Anchor plates hold the four-metre high metal walls in place and protect property from rising tides and rivers. The walls can be removed when not needed, and put in place in less than two hours.

The system is already in use blocking floodwaters along the Rhine and Moselle rivers in Germany.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "We believe that some details are about to arrive, but we haven't seen them yet and there has certainly been no discussion with the company."

Britain was back on flood alert today as forecasters warned that heavy rain was set to lash the country again.

Forecasters have predicted that up to 30mm (1.2in) of rain could fall within the next 24 hours, which could mean more flooding for beleaguered householders.

A slow-moving band of heavy rain was due to sweep across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, London, Essex and East Anglia before moving north. But North and East Yorkshire should escape the worst.

A forecaster from the PA WeatherCentre said: "It may clip North and East Yorkshire, but it shouldn't cause any problems."

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has warned that floods are set to become a "regular" feature of life in Britain.

Mr Prescott was on a visit to flood defences in Delft, in the Netherlands, as part of his visit to the World Climate Change Conference in The Hague.

He said: "We have capital needs over five years on the rivers alone of £100 million and coastal needs way beyond that. The biggest flood threat is along the coast."

A Ministry of Agriculture spokesman said £380 million would be spent on nationwide flood prevention this year, rising to £440 million by 2003.

He said it was up to local authorities to come up with schemes for £51 million announced recently.

A severe flood warning was still in place on the River Aire at Gowdall, East Yorkshire, some of which is still under water nearly three weeks after it was first flooded when the river burst its banks.

Villager Erika Haines said parts of Gowdall were still under 2ft of water.

"We've been given these names - 'the forgotten village' and 'the village given to the river' - and that about sums it up," she said.

adam.nichols@ycp.co.uk