A little over 12 months since last summer's flooding disaster, communities under threat throughout Yorkshire were counting the cost of yet another deluge.

North Yorkshire suffered the worst of the weekend floods, although people living in Hull and South Yorkshire who were badly hit in June last year were placed on high alert.

Yesterday the Government came under renewed pressure to overhaul its policies amid accusations that funding for flood defences is blighted by bureaucracy and red tape.

Towns such as Pickering have been repeatedly hit by flooding, but residents have been told they do not qualify for a defence scheme under the present points system.

The Environment Agency shelved plans for a £6.7m defence scheme for the town as it deemed the 40 properties the project would protect did not make it cost effective.

Homes and businesses have been flooded six times in nine years and properties narrowly escaped at the weekend after Pickering Beck's levels rose dramatically.

Pickering Flood Defence Group's spokesman, Howard Keal, who is also a member of Ryedale District Council, said: "There is real anger and disbelief that the people of Pickering are being left in the lurch once again to deal with flooding.

"This weekend has been another example of the indifference of both the Government and the Environment Agency to properly tackle the issue of flooding.

"Funding for flood defences is being diverted to urban areas, while people living in more rural communities are being put through emotional turmoil every time there is heavy rain.

"It is not a question of if places like Pickering are going to flood, it is a question of when and how badly."

Shadow Floods Minister Anne McIntosh, who is Conservative MP for the Vale of York, is due to visit Pickering today.

She said: "I want to see for myself how the town coped with the latest spell of heavy rain to cause problems. I remain very concerned about the lack of flood defences to protect the town."

Among the villages hit at the weekend was Normanby, in North Yorkshire, where the Sun Inn was flooded for the second time in 15 months.

Up to eight inches of water ended up in the pub's cellar, while the entrance and kitchen were also flooded.

Landlord Andy Wain, who only bought the Sun Inn 18 months ago, also endured flooding in June 2007.

He said: "It feels as though you have got the Sword of Damocles hanging over you every time there is heavy rain. I will be seeking answers from the Environment Agency and Ryedale District Council as to why this is happening so often."

The River Ouse in York was expected to peak at about midnight last night, when water levels were predicted to be almost 15ft above those normally expected in early September. But for residents in the flood-hit city who had previously endured water seeping into their homes there was some good news.

Revolutionary removable flood defences which are being trialled in York were successfully used in an emergency for the first time.

The three-year pilot is taking place in the River Street and Clementhorpe area, where 40 properties were flooded and another 50 buildings cut off by rising waters in 2000.

Inventor Paul Archer-Simms, who was born in York, spent £500,000 of his own money creating the Aquabarrier defences, which cost a total of £1.2m to develop.

Retired butcher Peter Lockton, 57, who lives with his wife, Patricia, in River Street, said: "Without the flood defences, there would have been water in people's homes without a doubt.

"We were evacuated in 2000, and the barriers have made sure we don't have to go through all the heartache again. York Council needs to look at where the barriers can be used elsewhere to help other communities under threat of flooding."

East Yorkshire residents escaped a repeat of last year's flooding although three areas were put on flood alert.

Holderness, from Carnaby to Kilnsea, the River Foulness and Market Weighton catchment and the upper reaches of the River Hull were all put on flood watch, the Environment Agency's alert with the lowest status, on Saturday.

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service's crews were called to several isolated incidents in the early hours of Saturday, including using two pumps to clear floodwater at Ruston Parva, near Driffield, and from the road at Garton on the Wolds.

South Yorkshire escaped serious flooding by a whisker, although at the peak there were flood warnings on seven stretches of river in the county.

Firefighters helped to pump out water from a pub cellar in Oughtibridge, Sheffield.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs maintained that flood defence funding had risen from £307m in 1996-97 to almost double that last year, and investment will continue to increase from the present level of £650m to £800m in 2010-11.

A total of 100,000 properties are served by flood defences in England and Wales, although the additional investment will help protect another 145,000 homes.