THE construction of a £1.3million flood defence scheme for Pickering has been called off at the last minute because it cannot be built within budget.

The Environment Agency (EA) was due to start work this summer on its Slowing the Flow project, a number of flood storage reservoirs upstream of the Ryedale market town, to alleviate flooding in the area.

However, the EA announced yesterday that construction costs had spiralled to £3.2 million because of additional safety measures which needed to be built into the project to reduce any risk to the public should the reservoirs fail.

The announcement was met with anger from Pickering councillors and the town’s Conservative MP, Anne McIntosh, who said she could “not express strongly enough” her disappointment. She said she would seek urgent talks with the EA and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Linda Cowling, who represents Pickering West on Ryedale District Council, said she was horrified at the news.

“It’s despicable to drop Pickering in it like this,” she said.

“They must have spent thousands in man hours on this scheme and now they have pulled out of it at the last minute.”

She said if there was any danger to the public then the costs should be met by the EA. Ryedale District Council had already agreed to contribute £950,000 towards the scheme. A total of £100,000 was secured from the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee and £50,000 from the EA.

The agency’s area manager Craig McGarvey said he realised the decision would be “incredibly disappointing”, but said the EA would not rest until every other option had been identified.

He said: “We have sought advice from a range of experts, discussed the issue with the independent reservoir engineers for nearly a year and used the latest in modelling technology to develop a design that complies with the legislation and could be built within the current budget.

“Unfortunately, it has become clear that this is not possible.”