It comes in the wake of a flooding "near-miss" in Pickering and Sinnington last weekend which saw up to 80mm of rain fall over the pennines and North York Moors.

Now agency staff, as part of their programme of watercourse maintenance, are removing obstructions which could cause serious flooding problems at several locations including Pickering Beck and Butterwick Bridge on the River Rye.

They are targeting fallen trees and riverside vegetation which could block the channel or trap debris and form a dam, while making sure protected species and their habitats are undisturbed.

Pete Freer, of the Agency's operations team said: "This work will make a huge difference to the area. At Butterwick Bridge a growth of willows on the riverbank was sprawling right across the river just upstream of the bridge.

"When trees and branches get wedged against bridge arches or stuck at other pinch points then more debris builds up behind them. During a flood it is too dangerous to remove the trees, so we regularly check watercourses and carry out preventive work to remove as many potential obstructions as possible before flooding happens."

Similar work downstream towards Newsham Bridge should be completed early next year.

The Pickering Beck clear-up is taking place along a two-kilometre stretch from Barker Stakes Farm, downstream to Lendales Farm, near Kirby misperton Bridge.

Howard Keal, a spokesman for Pickering flood defence group and a district councillor, said: "It's excellent that the Environment Agency is grasping the maintenance nettle and we hope that this will be the shape of things to come as well as looking at other factors such as sorting out sluices in the town.

"We came within a hair's breadth of another major flood just days ago and the urgency of putting the whole package of measures in place to prevent another major flood is all too obvious."