Eleven months on from the deluge, and with all the village’s flood victims not yet back in their homes, impatience spilled over at the meeting.

The residents present were told how Skerne and Wansford Parish Council had obtained the full £10,000 flood grant funding from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council in response to pleas from Driffield Navigation workers at a previous public meeting in March.

Then, Navigation spokesman Roger Gooch told residents that a by-wash at the dilapadated Wansford Lock was key to relieving the flooding problems experienced by canal-side homes on June 25 last year.

At that time the lock, which no longer opens, became blocked with weeds and the canal overflowed, spelling disaster for many residents. Subsequently, with the canal threatening to burst its banks, many villagers were evacuated to Nafferton.

Simultaneous to the March public meeting, Paul Rounding, chairman of Driffield Navigation Amenities Association, highlighted the threat of further flooding posed by the lack of a by-wash at Wansford Lock.

He told the Driffield Post: “It is hard to predict, but, having seen the floods, the worst case scenario will be that some houses get flooded and the most vulnerable are situated along the canal.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, parish council chairman Roger Parkin told residents that although some of the £10,000 grant had been earmarked for flood expenses, the remaining £9,000 had been obtained to help fund the by-wash, but that the authority had been informed that the money would not be available indefinitely.

Residents were anxious that work on the by-wash should not be delayed and the funding lost.

Coun Parkin suggested that an imminent start would be ideal as, currently, the canal water level was relatively low.

It was decided that the parish council contact DNA explaining that the funding was now available and that the residents would send their own letter stressing the importance of the work being undertaken as soon as possible.

Meanwhile residents from the north end of the village, whose homes were flooded when blocked drainage dykes and ditches backed up, expressed their frustration that nothing had, as yet, been done to remedy their situation.

However a meeting between the parish council, members of the East Yorkshire of Yorkshire Council, Yorkshire Water and representatives of flood-struck families is scheduled for Wednesday May 28 when it was hoped some progress could be made.