EXPENSIVE flood damage restoration work has been labelled an eyesore and a potential death trap for children at a North Yorkshire river.

The work, carried out by the Environment Agency at Scalby Beck, Newby Bridge Weir, Scarborough, has left gabion baskets filled with stone, and bank sides exposed, said Councillor Derek Bastiman, a member of Scarborough Borough Council's cabinet and a representative for the Scalby Ward on the borough authority.

"But my biggest worry is that the flood defence work has resulted in a large stone island being created in the river immediately below the weir together with a stepping stone pathway.

"It is a death trap especially with the onset of spring and summer. It will be a magnet for children just at the spot where two children where drowned some years ago," said Coun Bastiman, who is also a member of Scalby and Newby parish council.

"The agency has left us with a very inferior finished scheme. I have had many complaints not only about its appearance but in particular about the very dangerous conditions in the river."

An Environment Agency spokesman said the banks and stone-filled gabions had not been grassed over because it was not suitable at the time of year they were installed, although the work will be done.

On the "island", she said engineers believed the stones would have levelled out and would not protrude above water level. She added that a fence is to be erected around the river bank to make the bank sides secure and an assessment of any likely risk to the public will be carried out.

"As a result of that investigation we will take any necessary action" she said.