A PLEA has been made by North Yorkshire MP John Greenway for a flood defence scheme for Norton and Malton to go ahead as a priority, despite the cost rocketing by £1.3m.

The Government is expected to pay 65 per cent of the extra cost, but the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee will have to find the remaining 35 per cent.

"I am concerned that residents who have been victims of the floods in the past two years may fear that the scheme could be delayed because of the cost rising from the original £5m," said Mr Greenway, MP for Ryedale.

"I am pleading with the committee not to let Norton and Malton residents down. They have suffered terribly through the floods."

He has written to chairman of the committee, Professor Roy Ward, asking that it agrees to provide its share of the funding.

"I am urging the members to ensure that the Environment Agency does have the resources at its disposal to carry out the scheme in as speedy a time scale as possible," said Mr Greenway.

"I appreciate they have some difficult financial decisions to make next month, but I do want them to honour their commitment to making the Malton and Norton scheme the main priority".

Mr Greenway said councils should agree to make an ongoing commitment during the next few years towards funding flood defence schemes.

"Whatever they pay out for such projects they should be able to get back the following year from the Government in the Standard Spending Assessment grant," he said.

The committee will also face a £5m rise in the cost of a river scheme at Goole, said Mr Greenway. Planners have given the go-ahead to a £1m flood defence scheme for Stamford Bridge, near York