A COUPLE who took the initiative in their battle to protect their home from flooding have found themselves at loggerheads with their neighbours.

Lynn and Gordon Clitheroe, of Pickering, North Yorkshire, have built a 2ft-high wall around their property on the town's Mill Bank.

But people living nearby claim their houses and gardens are now more likely to flood, and the Environment Agency and Ryedale District Council have been asked to intervene.

Mrs Clitheroe said the wall was built because homeowners have been encouraged to come up with anti-flooding projects of their own.

"They are telling you to look after yourself and then, when you do, you are penalised for it," she said.

"We have been building this wall for a year. Nothing was done under the cover of darkness."

But neighbour Avril Harrison claimed flooding on her property in April was worse than before - and she blamed the Clitheroe's wall.

She said: "My husband wrote to the district council and inquired about us raising the river banks at our garden, but we were told it was engineering works which did need planning permission."

Environment Agency spokesman Phil Edwards confirmed the organisation would welcome hearing from anyone building their own defences.

He said: "Most people who fall foul of the legislation do it inadvertently. It is not done with any real intent to have an impact on other people.

"However, if you stop water going in one direction, then it has to go somewhere else."

Mr Edwards said the Environment Agency would be considering the options, and removing the Clitheroes wall is likely to be among them.