Naburn near York 'cut off' by flood water

Flooding in Naburn near York on Sunday

A village on the banks of the River Ouse has seemingly been left "completely cut off".

BBC Radio York's Jeremy Buxton reported all routes into Naburn near York were inaccessible on Sunday.

The village, lying on the eastern bank of the river, has a population of about 500 people. No properties have been affected.

A City of York Council spokesperson said "appropriate support measures" were being offered to residents.

Cawood Bridge is closed due to the high river level

The bridge is closed to traffic

As of 17:00 GMT, there were four Environment Agency (EA) flood warnings in force along the River Ouse - meaning flooding was expected.

An agency spokeswoman said it was "monitoring the situation" across Yorkshire, including Naburn.

Mr Buxton, who lives in a village near Naburn, said: "It's not unusual for one of the four routes into Naburn to flood from time to time, but I've never known all four to be inaccessible.

"Three of the roads were flooded, and the one that actually was usable had cones and flood warning signs across it (at the A19 junction) to block it off, meaning it was impossible to access the village.

"In parts, the water was a good half a metre deep. I have a small electric car and I took one look at it and turned around.

"I saw two 4x4s do the same; those drivers also not wanting to chance it.

"Surrounding fields are full of water too."

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Mr Buxton said he had seen signs warning that Cawood Bridge, just over five miles (8km) away from Naburn, was closed due to high river levels. However, he said there were no signs advising motorists of flooding in Naburn.

He had also not seen any officials in Naburn.

"Cawood Bridge closing is not particularly unusual," he said. "It closed briefly not long ago."

Saturated ground

A City of York Council spokesperson said: "We are aware of the situation in Naburn, which is normal for a flood event of this level. The Naburn flood warning was issued earlier today and Naburn road closures are usual.

"Signage advising people to avoid driving through flood water has been installed and appropriate measures are being offered to individual property owners where necessary."

An EA spokesperson added: "There continues to be river flooding in the North of England over the New Year, due to the recent spells of heavy rain falling on saturated ground, with nine flood warnings and 16 alerts in place across Yorkshire.

"The agency is monitoring the situation closely and has teams out on the ground undertaking preparatory activity to minimise the impacts of flooding where possible."

The spokesperson urged people to take care and warned motorists "just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car".