4:01pm UK, Saturday January 01, 2005

Britons have donated a record £60m to help the millions of victims of the tsunami in south east Asia.              

Pledges are pouring in from individuals, clubs and businesses at a rate of up to £15,000 a minute.

180 Oxfam loads relief aid east midlands tsunami

Aid is loaded on to plane

This is in addition to £50m pledged by the British Government, which has also pledged to transport the aid to Asia.     

Brendan Gormley, chief executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee, said: "This means the DEC agencies will be able to rebuild shattered lives and livelihoods."

Call centres have been receiving donations from the public at the rate of up to £1m an hour.

Sky has donated £30,000 to the fund, with a further £300,000 donated by 9,000 viewers through digital boxes.   

Other donations include £1m from premiership football clubs and £250,000 from Barclays Bank.

There have also been donations of £100,000 from the Corporation of London and BUPA.

Money from the public poured in as the Indian Ocean disaster overshadowed New Year celebrations across the country.

The disaster hotline is: 0870 60 60 900 but if possible the DEC is asking people to consider using its website: www.dec.org.uk

Telephone lines are were being overwhelmed by callers and staff are struggling to cope.