SURVIVORS of the Asian tsunami have criticised the Disasters Emergency Committee for bringing an end to its appeal.

The UK organisation, an umbrella group of 12 aid agencies, raised £300 million for the countries hit.

The appeal closed at midnight on Saturday with the charity saying there was enough money to carry out relief and long-term rebuilding work.

But survivors from Swindon feel there is still more to be done. Debbie Donkin, 44, and her partner Pip Reeves, 47, of Old Town thought they were going to die when the giant waves hit their hotel in Wadduwa, Sri Lanka.

Debbie, a chef with Swindon catering company Aramark, said: "£300 million is a lot of money but it's still not enough to fix the devastation.

"So many places were affected. This is not just a short-term thing.

"It's going to take years for countries to get back to normal. Devastation was everywhere. They should have kept the appeal going as long as people wanted to give.

"People still want to do things but if it's closing it's making it harder. It's the wrong message."

And Anna Green, 26, who had her dream wedding to fianc Simon Miles, 32, on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka, ruined, said: "I can't understand them closing the appeal. I think they should definitely carry on.

"Those people need help for months to come. The hotel where we were should be open again in October but compared to some others that was barely touched.

"Some were completely swept away so that's going to take years for them to get back.

"It's costing people money to rebuild and while they're doing that they're not earning any money from tourists."

DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley thanked the British public. He said: "The British public has created an amazing £300 million fund that is making a huge difference to people from Sri Lanka to Somalia.

"Thanks to their generosity, thousands of people who lost everything now have food, clean water and shelter."

The DEC has already allocated more than £100 million for the first phase of disaster relief.

The rest of the appeal fund will be spent on reconstruction and re-establishing livelihoods over a further three years.