One charity has already sent �500,000 to the relief effort

Councillor Mohammed Munir visited the area earlier this year. He described the quake as "a great loss" that had taken the lives of many young people.

"I can visualise the villages and I have heard that hundreds of children have died in the places we visited.

"We need to do something for these people," he said.

Nottingham has about 12,000 residents of Pakistani origin and many have relatives and friends in the devastated area.

'Pulling together'

In an appeal on BBC News 24, Mr Munir said: "The money is desperately needed. There is no hand to feed the babies, there are no shelters and there is nothing left.

"I want to help rebuild the devastated areas."

He said his appeal could be used to pay for a new school, or health centre, or even to adopt and rebuild a village from scratch.

He added: "So far, there has been a very good response from the community. The community is very much pulling together, there is no doubt about it. Generally, Nottingham people do give generously."

He explained how fundraising in the city paid for a new village which was "earthquake-proof" in Gujarat, India, a few years ago, after a quake.

Meanwhile, more than �500,000 has been sent by the Forest Fields-based charity Muslim Hands to teams already in the region to help rebuild schools and homes.