NORTH Yorkshire County Council has criticised a north-south divide in vital government funding for flood repairs.

The authority was originally pleased to have been given £1.2m to repair roads and bridges ravaged by floodwaters last November.

Closer analysis of government figures, however, has shown that almost £16m of the £23m made available nationally has gone to the south-east.

The North Yorkshire bid for emergency funding consisted of almost 200 schemes totalling £3.3m, broken down as £2.1m for roads and £1.2m for repairs to bridges and retaining walls.

One rebuilding programme alone, at Creets Bridge, Kirkby Malzeard, will cost more than £300,000.

Coun Peter Sowray, executive member for environmental services with the county council, said: "We were not unhappy with the settlement, even though it represented only about a third of our bid.

"We would naturally have liked more because we have been left with a significant shortfall of more than £2m for repairs following flooding last November.

"This will mean that other elements of our programme regarding long-term structural repair of roads and bridges will have to wait to accommodate this essential flood damage work.

"We are now in a very disappointing position of having to delay £2m worth of work to improve the quality of our roads and bridges until next year.

"Our own information is that Yorkshire and Humberside was one of the regions worst affected by flooding. In that context it is very disappointing that the government didn't set aside more cash for North Yorkshire.''

The North Yorkshire bid for emergency funding related to schemes across the county, particularly landslips around Whitby, Sandsend and the North York moors and roads and bridges in the Yorkshire dales.