The Evening Press can reveal today how swift-thinking and a sandbag army saved hundreds of homes in eastern York from potentially devastating floods.

All attention was concentrated last Friday on whether flood defences along the banks of the Ouse would hold, saving hundreds of homes in the Leeman Road area.

But at the same time, the river was also causing unexpected problems on its tributary, the Foss.

And for a while it threatened to cause a disaster in eastern areas of the city such as Foss Islands Road, Fossgate and Huntington Road, along with areas of Tang Hall and Heworth, where becks feed into the Foss. Many houses in this area were flooded in the 1982 disaster.

As the swollen Ouse rose to record heights, it crept up Tower Street and started pouring into the inner ring road near Castle Mills Bridge. Then it began pouring into the Foss.

The pumping station alongside the Foss Barrier, which pumps water out of the Foss into the Ouse to prevent floodwater backing up the Foss basin, was unable to cope with the extra volume of water and the river rose several feet.

At one stage, Foss Islands Road had to be closed off to traffic.

But a sharp-eyed Environment Agency member of staff spotted the problem, and the EA started sandbagging off the junction between Tower Street and Castle Mills Bridge to protect the Foss. The army also arrived to assist in the bagging operation.

The bags remain in place today to prevent any repeat as the Ouse rises again.