PREDICTIONS of a flooding crisis proved unfounded last night, but angry homeowners still warned that the lessons of past disasters had not been learnt.

As the majority of flood warnings in place across the region were removed by the Environment Agency, the River Ouse peaked at about 15ft above its normal levels in York.

Emergency planners condemned earlier reports that the city was facing a catastrophe similar to the great floods of 2000, saying there had been no evacuations and no breach of defences.

But they came in for criticism from residents who had worked through the early hours of yesterday morning building a wall of hundreds of sandbags.

South Esplanade resident Rupert Hildyard said: "We've had no progress in 17 months in making any commitment at all about defences and protecting us from floods. We are just being abandoned."

Fire crews were needed to bail out the Waterfront Restaurant on King's Staith, after levels in the building reached six inches during the afternoon.

Restaurant owners Robert and Carol Swift had installed steel flood protection frames at a cost of £160,000 after the crisis of 2000.

But tourism chiefs insisted there was no crisis and urged people to ignore sensational reports that the city was under water.

York Tourism Bureau's chief executive, Gillian Cruddas, said only a few cancellations had been made.

She said: "It is absolutely vital that we get across our message to visitors that York is completely safe to visit."

Elsewhere, the Environment Agency withdrew flood alerts which had been issued on Monday to residents of Masham, Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge.

However, Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh said she would be pressing the agency to make the Ings flood defences at Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, fully operational.

"The Ings are really the only guarantee local residents have that Boroughbridge and its surrounding villages will not become the victims of extensive flooding," she said.