People living across the area helped a charity appeal raise nearly £30,000 for the victims of the Nepal earthquake.

Donations from people living in Letchworth, Hitchin and Stevenage raised more than £3,000 in the nationwide appeal by religious TV station The Sikh Channel.

On Monday representatives handed over a cheque for £29,500 to ShelterBox, a charity which provides emergency shelter and supplies to people affected by natural disasters.

The channel’s chief executive Gurdeep Singh, who lives in Stevenage, said: “We wanted to raise money to try and help those affected by the terrible earthquake that hit Nepal last month.

“Our viewers and people living in the area have given extremely generously and everyone at the company was really proud to hand over the money. We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who donated.”