Readers of the Belfast Telegraph have received praise from an unlikely source after raising £76,000 for the victims of the Gujarat earthquake.

Former 007 legend Roger Moore, who does lots of charity work overseas, thanked readers for their efforts and said: “The Belfast Telegraph has done a fantastic job.

“I have seen Unicef in action many times and I know that your contributions will make a big difference.”

Readers have helped provide funds for Unicef to carry out vital work in the stricken region of Gujarat in India.

Some 20,000 people died in January in the biggest disaster to hit the sub-continent.

Of the 49m population, an estimated 15m were directly affected by the quake, three million of whom were children.

The Unicef fund is concentrating on providing health and education centres as well as vaccination programmes which have already protected over 400,000 children.

Executive director of Unicef David Bull said: “I congratulate and send my personal thanks to every one of you who has supported the appeal for India.

“The total raised was £76,276 – a fantastic effort, which will make such a difference to the children of Gujarat.”

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