Clr Mark Robson with Hambleton District Council Street Scene Officer, Alan Scargill, delivering FloodSax Photo: Hambleton District Council

Sandless sandbags have been given to 2,000 homes in North Yorkshire in a bid to stop severe flooding.

People living across the Hambleton area of North Yorkshire have been given more than 2,000 FloodSax from Hambleton District Council.

They have been handed out to communities at risk of rising water levels.

FloodSax are miraculously transformed from being as light as a pillowcase to being as tough as traditional sandbags in minutes once they come into contact with water. They have a polymer gel inside which absorbs the water and makes them taut and ideal to build strong barriers against torrential floodwater. They can also be used indoors to soak up leaks and spills in hard to reach places.

It means the FloodSax are ideal to store and both quick and easy to deploy.

Clr Mark Robson from Hambleton District Council said: “Traditional sandbags are very heavy, can deteriorate over time and eventually fall apart.

“The council is delighted that it has been able to make Floodsax available to parishes who may struggle for somewhere to store the bulky sandbags.”