A VILLAGE devastated by flash floods almost two years ago yesterday finally marked the completion of repairs.

Hawnby, near Helmsley, was one of the hardest-hit communities after a month's rain fell on a wide area of the North York Moors in just a few hours.

The aftermath of the deluge severely damaged the village's 18th Century Shaken Bridge and flooded several homes on the evening of June 19.

An abutment and a third of the bridge's two arches were swept away, making it unusable.

To allow access, North Yorkshire County Council built a temporary structure to bypass the bridge.

Divers were also brought in to underpin it with concrete after the old timber foundations were found to be rotten.

The 39-week project to restore the bridge has now been completed at a cost of £900,000 and yesterday, the end of the work was celebrated by television personality Janet Street-Porter.

The broadcaster, who lives at Pateley Bridge, in the Yorkshire Dales, and has hiked through Hawnby, said: "I know what flash flooding can do to a village like Hawnby and what they have experienced has been dreadful in all sorts of ways.

"I am thrilled the bridge has been rebuilt and that the village is back on the map and visitors can walk through here."

The council also spent £200,000 to repair damage done to Chapel Bridge, in Hawnby, that night.

In total, £3.5m was spent on repairs following the floods which wreaked havoc in the Hambleton and northern Ryedale areas.

Kathy Young, owner of The Inn at Hawnby, said: "It was a terrible experience. It left Hawnby cut off for a while, but we saw how people really rallied round and helped each other. Now we can safely say we have put the floods behind us and we feel this is the start of a new era."

Dave Bowe, the county council's assistant director of highways and transportation, said: "We are very pleased with the work which was done in a community which suffered an awful situation."