IT WAS designed to withstand major floods which occur once every 100 years - but two years after Yarm's £2.1m flood defence scheme was opened, it was realised the walls had not been built high enough.

The floods of 1995 turned Yarm High Street into a river with water up to 18in deep. After running out of sand - 40 tons of it, shovelled into 1,500 bags - Stockton Borough Council provided residents with barriers made from 500 bags of rock salt.

Now a further £2m has been spent on building up the defence walls.

The Environment Agency says the original scheme, completed in 1993, protected the town from flooding several times.

It says knowledge gained following the 1995 flood showed that the original height of the floodwalls gave a lower than desirable standard of protection.

The upgrade has given the walls another half-metre in height.

Jo Turnbull, chairwoman of the Northumbria Regional Flood Defence Committee, said: "This improved scheme is a major step forward to providing better flood protection for residents and businesses in Yarm.

"Although we can never prevent flooding, the work will reduce the frequency of flooding, and members of my committee recognised the need by agreeing to help fund the project."

Construction on the original scheme, opened by the town's then Tory MP, Tim Devlin, was hampered by a sub-contractor going bust.

The hydraulic defences had been designed to withstand severe floods which occur once every 100 years. But the floods which occurred in 1995 - only two years after the scheme was completed - were said to occur every 50 years.

Looped by the River Tees, Yarm has always been prone to flooding. In the great floods of 1881, boats were rowed up and down the High Street.

The cost of protecting North-East towns and villages against the floods has risen enormously.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that a scheme to defend homes in South Church and West Auckland, County Durham, had been delayed because the estimated £4.5m cost had risen to £7.8m.

Homes were severely flooded when the River Gaunless broke its banks two years ago