British aid reaches cyclone victims

But the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which is running the appeal, said further donations are urgently needed to reach more of those in desperate need of food, water, medical supplies and shelter.

Around £8 million has already been donated by the public to the appeal by the DEC, which includes charities such as Christian Aid and Oxfam.

Brendan Gormley, chief executive of the DEC, warned: "The situation is still desperate and without more international help over the coming weeks the death toll is bound to increase. We urgently need more funds if we are going to continue to reach more people."

A partner of Christian Aid, who wished to remain anonymous, said the Irrawaddy Delta had been worst hit and many people there had little expectation of receiving help.

The partner, involved in providing clean water for 25,000 people a day with huge water containers and water purification liquids, said: "The Delta area was already very vulnerable as people were so much on edge. Most of the people living there were landless labourers and lived in flimsy shacks in the fields."

Dr Sean Keogh, a disaster response specialist from one of the DEC member agencies, has just returned from the inaccessible Laputta region, where a boat carrying emergency supplies for 140,000 people arrived on Monday.

"When I arrived it was like a nuclear landscape, everything had been destroyed" said Dr Keogh. "Thousands of people are still in desperate need."

The DEC's renewed appeal comes as Burma begins three days of mourning for the tens of thousands of victims who died when the cyclone hit the country more than a fortnight ago. The ruling junta announced that the national flag would be flown at half-mast throughout the period in a solemn mark of respect for the dead.

Meanwhile, Burma's military leaders have pledged to allow neighbouring countries access to the country to assist in the relief effort - a move that could help the plight of millions left homeless by the disaster.