An Oxford man caught up in the South Asian earthquake is returning to the disaster zone with £25,000 of donations to buy aid and restart work on the toppled mosque tower he spent years building.

About 60 friends and relatives of Risinghurst property developer Shah Nawaz have rallied round so he can provide aid for earthquake refugees in his home town of Mirpur, in south-east Kashmir.

The mosque before the quake He said: "I'm touched by the generosity of people and delighted by the contributions they have made in such a short space of time.

"The British Government has also been very generous, but there's still much more that needs to be done."

The father-of-seven will also start work on rebuilding a smaller version of the 220ft mosque tower, which crashed down before his eyes when the earthquake shook the Pakistani-administered area of Kashmir and neighbouring parts of India at 8.50am on October 8.

The building of the giant tower was the final stage in Mr Nawaz's 17-year project to establish a mosque in the town and he believes it is important to get it rebuilt as quickly as possible.

"The mosque is where people pray, so it's a very important place for people when a tragedy has happened," he said.

"We have to rebuild the tower in the name of the two workers who died when they fell from it when it collapsed."

Thirteen workshops under the mosque, which were also demolished by the earthquake, will also be rebuilt.

However, the main bulk of the money raised by family and friends living in Oxford and Sheffield, will go to providing desperately needed aid for the thousands of refugees who have poured into Mirpur since the earthquake.

Mr Nawaz will use it to buy clothing, food and whatever else is needed.

He said one of his main concerns was the onset of winter and he and other residents had given up their houses for refugees to stay in indefinitely.

Mr Nawaz, who has lived in Oxford since 1963, has already spent 10 days helping to provide relief for victims in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.

He believes a calling from God meant he was not working underneath the tower when it toppled, as he did every day during his visit to Mirpur.

Mr Nawaz, will fly out on Saturday and plans to stay for three weeks.

Anyone interested in donating to the disaster fund can call Mr Nawaz on 07940 420306.