FOUR people from Oxfordshire have all now contacted their families to say they are safe after a massive earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday.

International efforts to bring aid to the country have stepped up after the death toll reached more than 3,700.

Psychotherapist Sue Gerhardt, from Oxford, said her husband Paul received a call from their son Laurence, 24, this afternoon.

Laurence was travelling with an old friend from Cherwell School, Joe Butchers, around Nepal as part of an end-of-university trip.

He graduated from Sussex University in American Studies had previously spent a year in Australia.

Mrs Gerhardt had last heard from her son when he emailed her from Langtang National Park, in the Rasuwa region, and been waiting for news since Saturday.

She said: "He's in a survivors' camp. They're both fine. It's such a tremendous relief; it has been a nightmare."

Mr Butchers had been working as a volunteer on a hydroelectric project. His father Mark Butchers, the former Vicar of St Peter's Church, Wolvercote, has been informed.

Also registered as missing were Joe McMullen, 24, and Sophie Proffitt, 23. Both are reportedly safe and well.