WORSHIPPERS across a diocese that spans North and West Yorkshire have raised £238,392 for restoration work in Sri Lanka following the Asian tsunami.

Money given to the appeal, launched by the Right Reverend John Packer, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, shortly after the disaster struck, has fulfilled a promise he made when he started the fund.

He said that churches would continue to be concerned with restoration projects long after the devasation had disappeared from front pages of newspapers around the world.

Bishop Packer decided to launch the appeal specifically for Sri Lanka because of his diocese's close links with that nation, which has seen exchange visits prosper.

Officially closing the appeal, Bishop Packer said the Asian tsunami, the London bombings and the Kashmiri earthquake had demonstrated the fragility of human lives and their relationships between people.

He said: "We have been made aware forcefully of the divisions which often mar our concern for one another."

He said that the Kashmiri earthquake had seen people from different faiths and political parties coming together to learn about the need to pray for those in distress.

The London bombings had not divided the community, but brought it together in a search for peace, providing hope for the future, he said.

Although the tsunami appeal has been closed, any further donations will be passed to the Diocese of Colombo in Sri Lanka.