Oxfam will end its relief work in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at the end of this month.

The Cowley-based charity received about £155m in donations after the Boxing Day disaster four years ago and has now spent almost all the money.

The tsunami killed 230,000 people in the region and left hundreds of thousands of others injured or homeless.

Oxfam spokesman Sean Kenny said: “We have had the pot of money since the tsunami and we have now done all the work on the emergency part of the appeal and getting people back on their feet.

“People living in the region are now in a better situation than they were before the tsunami.”

“Although this particular pot of money has been finished, if there's a need, we will start new programmes.”

Oxfam and its local partner organisations assisted a total of 2.5m people in seven tsunami-affected countries, in the largest emergency programme in its history.

The chairman of the Oxfam tsunami fund board, Barbara Stocking, said: “What has been achieved is astounding.

“The money we received allowed us not only to help meet the immediate emergency needs of tsunami-affected populations, but also to try to address the factors that made them vulnerable, not least poverty and a lack of influence over their own lives.”

The activities of Oxfam and its partners ranged from the provision of emergency clean water and sanitation to the construction of permanent houses to better protect communities against future disasters.

The seven countries Oxfam provided relief in were Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, the Maldives and Myanmar (Burma).

Of the money raised, 90 per cent came from members of the public.

cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk