CONSTRUCTION group MMP have been given £30,000 towards their appeal to help survivors of the Boxing Day tsunami disaster.

A donation from builders' merchants Jewson took the total raised by the Newton Aycliffe company to more than £132,000.

MMP staff are aiming to collect £200,000 to build a child and community centre in the Phangnga district of Thailand, north of Phuket in a village called Ban Nam Khem.

Directors are currently negotiating to buy a disused squid-drying factory for £35,000, which will then be demolished and used as the site for the centre.

Jewson raised their contribution by asking employees across the UK to pledge the equivalent of one hour's salary to help tsunami survivors.

This brought in £15,000, which was matched by Jewson to make £30,000.

Design and pre-fabrication of the Ban Nam Khem Community Centre is due to start at MMP next month. It will be shipped out to Thailand in September.