A flood-hit hamlet near Pool-in-Wharfedale is set to benefit from half-a-million pounds to build flood defences.

But beleaguered residents of Castley Lane are worried that the work, due to start in May, will be stopped before it has even begun because of problems with planning and cost effectiveness.

Some of the worst flood hit residents are still trying to get back to normal 15 months on from the floods that hit them in October 2000 and are reluctant to relax until work has actually begun.

The plans for the new defence are part of £38 million allocated by the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee to Yorkshire and the Humber in 2002/3 to improve flood defences and warnings.

The plan is to build a mile of embankment three quarters of a metre high that will benefit 16 houses and three farms in Castley Lane.

If the work begins in May when expected, it will run until September.

According to an Environment Agency spokesman there will be a lot of work done underground so the water will not seep through, and when the defence is completed, it will look like nothing more than a grassed-over bump.

Castley Lane resident Adrian Denman said: "I don't care if there is a ten foot wall to see out of our window, as long as the water doesn't come into our home again."

Mr Denman and his family have been hit by the floods time and again when the River Wharfe has burst its banks, and more than a year after the last flood they still put up with a damp house, peeling wallpaper and not much furniture on the ground floor.

Mr Denman and his wife Allison got so fed up with heaving their furniture upstairs as water approached their house, they have left a lot of their more expensive and awkward-shaped belongings in their son's bedroom.

James, six, and his sister Kathryn, nine, share a bedroom at the house and Mr Denman has said that his children have grown up with the floods, and have suffered as a result.

He said: "They have to share a room which is a shame, because we just can't get back to normal.

"We have had a lot of near misses as the water has come up the field and all we can do is watch it we got sick of hauling our furniture upstairs each time, so we've left it in James's room."

Mrs Denman said: "The sooner the flood defences go up, the better, because we have two crucial months to get through in what is classed as the winter period, and we constantly watch the weather forecast.

"At least there will be some respite now, but I hope the defences will be sufficient because it seems that each time it floods it gets a bit worse.

"Only when I see workmen at the site will I think about taking my furniture downstairs."

Another Castley Lane resident, Gavin Barlow, has said there is still a long way to go before residents can rest easy.

He said: "I understand there are still a lot of committees to go through and one of the farmers is objecting because the work is on his land, so there are a lot of hurdles.

"There is also the worry that the benefit to cost ratio will mean the project gets shelved, so we will worry until the diggers are in the field.

"We have only been flooded once, but every time it rains we worry."

Stuart Thompson, of the Otley-based haulage firm, offered to build a barrier free of charge at Castley two years ago, but although an Environ-ment Agency representative visited him, Mr Thompson hasn't heard anything since.

He said: "It seems like an awful lot of money to be spending when I offered to do it for free.

"I'd like to know where I stand because my offer is still on the table and I am still interested.

"I said I would provide the soil and machinery because I want to help, so it seems a shame no-one has got back to me."

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "Behind the scenes work is underway and we are aiming for a start date in May, however, as with all flood defence projects which qualify for grants, the scheme has to get official approval from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

"We are still in consultation with landowners and the exact alignment of the embankment has yet to be agreed."