Quake tourists 'safe and well'

Sir William Ehrman said: "Of the group of 19 British tourists that were missing in the Wolong area 14 have now been evacuated to Chengdu where they are safe and well.

"The British ambassador has visited them and they are being looked after by UK consular officials. We understand the remaining five tourists are also safe and we expect them to be evacuated to Chengdu later. The UK is grateful for the help and assistance of the Chengdu authorities on this matter."

The Foreign Office said the holidaymakers, who were on a visit to the Wolong panda reserve in Wenchuan county, were evacuated to Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, by helicopter. The remaining five were also expected to be flown out. They had been out of touch since the 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck on Monday.

Meanwhile, construction manufacturer JCB has donated a fleet of diggers to help with relief efforts in China.

Six vehicles, worth about £300,000, and six operators are being sent from the firm's Chinese factory in Shanghai to the affected area in the Sichuan province.

Local drivers will be trained by the JCB team - which includes British employee Joe Cook, 30, from Malton, North Yorkshire - to operate the loaders.

Mr Cook said: "Our priority is to ensure these machines are put to good use in the round-the-clock recovery effort by training local people to operate them effectively."

JCB chairman Sir Anthony Bamford said: "No one watching the scenes of devastation on television could fail to be touched by the plight of the thousands of people affected by this terrible tragedy.

"I hope in some small way that JCB's donation of backhoe loaders can help the thousands of people who have been left trapped and homeless by this earthquake."