A meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s Richmond constituency committee was shown maps of a lengthy diversion featuring permanent signs, taking motorists to Scotch Corner and Bedale every time the River Swale bursts its banks and deluges the A864 at Morton Flatts, near Northallerton . Councillors were told while the “key strategic route” between the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors national parks had been closed five times over the past two years. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with a Digital subscription to Yorkshire Post, you can get access to all of our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
Officers highlighted how cars had been abandoned in the floods, frustrated drivers had taken it upon themselves to take down signs, while many motorists ignored the authority’s diversion route involving other A-roads and instead used country lanes, passing through villages such as Kirby Fleetham and Scruton. The meeting heard with 12,000 vehicles a day passing between Northallerton and the A1(M) and a significant proportion of motorists ignoring the “official diversion route”, there resulted in increased speeds through villages, damage to the lanes and people’s homes. Residents attending the meeting said as workers travelling to Leeming Bar Industrial Estate often started from 5am and the council’s response to overnight flooding was often several hours later, villages became inundated with traffic at antisocial.
