Two hundred people were this afternoon being evacuated from the Fordlands Road area of Fulford after sewage backed up drains.

A spokesman for City of York Council said: "A Yorkshire Water pump seems to have failed and we're having problems with sewage backing up through drains in the road."

The spokesman said the people were being evacuated from 50 homes in the Fordlands Road and Cherrywood Crescent areas to Archbishop Holgate's School, York.