STRICT planning rules have been introduced by the Government to help prevent another flood disaster in the region.

The tough guidance issued to local authorities aims to keep developers from building in high flood risk areas.

But if they do build on high- risk land they must pay for flood defence works, including drainage methods, to avoid adding to flood risk elsewhere.

Hundreds of families were forced to flee their homes when the floods caused chaos in the region last winter.

For many, such as in West Auckland and South Church, near Bishop Auckland, parts of Ryedale and York, it was the second time in months their homes had been devastated. Many live in fear of a repeat occurrence.

The cost of the floods, combined with wind damage, is estimated to have cost the insurance industry £700m.

The new guidance was yesterday welcomed by the Environment Agency.

Robin Bailey, the North-East region's flood defence regulation engineer, said high-risk sites would only be considered if there were no low-risk sites available.

"Sites will now be looked at on the principle of: are they good enough to approve, rather than the present practice of: are they bad enough to refuse."

But angry developers say the contribution to flood risk from new developments is minimal and they already pay for necessary flood defences.

They say it is older homes, often in historical centres such as York, which are most at risk from flooding.

Pierre Williams, spokesman for the House Builders Federation, said: "The only way of tackling this is funding the Environment Agency sufficiently so it can build and maintain proper flood defences at regional and national level. The two real risks now are that this guidance disguises the need for proper flood defences at national and regional level and is used to scupper safe development by slowing down the planning system even more."

A spokesman for Durham County Council said: "Some guidance is welcome as a result of the problems that local authorities and the development industry have faced over the last couple of years."

l For more on floods, log on to www.environment-agency.gov.uk