A total of 5,000 tents donated by the British government have been delivered to quake-hit Sichuan Province, according to a source with the British Embassy to China.

The tents will shelter around 30,000 people made homeless by the May 12 8.0-magnitude earthquake. An earlier consignment of 3,000 tents, which the British government bought in China, arrived in the area on May 20 by rail.

A team of British doctors experienced in dealing with earthquakes arrived at the weekend, and immediately started work, said the source.

Sir William Ehrman, the British Ambassador to China, said the British government had given 2 million pounds (US$4 million) in quake relief, while the contribution from British business community exceeded 5.4 million pounds and the British public had sent donations totaling 350,000 pounds.

"The generosity of millions across the whole of China and across the world, has been remarkable. We are proud to be playing a part in this extraordinary response," he said in a statement.

(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2008)