Inspections of York flood defences have found 18 of them, including ones protecting homes and businesses, did not meet Environment Agency target standards ahead of winter.
Environment Agency inspections in October of the 312 flood defences it monitors in York found six per cent of them were below required condition.
A total of 15 – or five per cent of defences – were deemed to be of high consequence due to them protecting several homes and businesses, according to BBC analysis.
Nationally, the Agency routinely inspects the roughly 51,000 flood defences it maintains along with around 47,000 which third parties are responsible for.
Defences are given a target score between one, very good, and five, very poor, and are measured by how they are deemed to be performing against it.
Failing to meet target scores could be due to cracks, fractures or erosion in walls, slumps in earth embankments, overgrowth which weakens structures or blocked and broken drainage systems.
Corrosion of metal components, displacing or titling structural elements or water seepage and leakage could also be reasons for defences falling below expected standards.
A defence being below required condition does not necessarily mean it has failed and it could still be fully operational even if part of it is not working as normal.
Professor Hannah Cloke, an academic specialising in hydrology at the University of Reading, said the amount of defences being in a bad condition was worrying.
Prof Cloke said: “We must keep people safe and that means we have to maintain our flood defence spending and preferably increase it because at the moment we still have a lot of people at risk and it’s getting worse.”
Floods Minister Ms Hardy said the Government’s investment of £10.5bn would protect communities for decades to come.
The Labour minister said: “Flooding devastates communities, but this government’s preparations mean our towns and cities are better protected than last year.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said protecting communities was more important as climate change brings more extreme weather.
The spokesperson said: “If the performance of an asset is reduced, then immediate action is taken to ensure that flood risk continues to be effectively managed until the asset is fully repaired or replaced.”
