A FORMER Redditch man has spoken of his experiences searching for survivors amongst the rubble in a Pakistani city devastated by this month's earthquake.

Jonathan Wharrad, whose family still live in Lodge Park, has returned from Pakistan following a seven-day mission with disaster response charity Rapid UK.

Two teams of 15 highly trained volunteers from Rapid UK were deployed to Pakistan immediately after the earthquake - measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale - struck on October 8.

The quake was the biggest to hit Pakistan and India in 100 years and may have claimed up to 55,000 lives.

One of the teams was posted out to the north of Pakistan, while Mr Wharrad's group remained in the country's capital, Islamabad.

Using specialist sensory equipment, his group managed to recover seven people from underneath one of the collapsed buildings, including a four-year-old child and a 75-year-old grandmother.

"You don't have time to even comprehend what you are doing. You just work solidly with the sole aim of recovering as many survivors as you can," said Mr Wharrad, who now lives with his wife in Evesham.

"We get very little sleep, probably about one or two hours out of 24. The job is extremely focused."

Mr Wharrad, a property developer and consultant, spent last weekend recovering from the mission.

Rapid UK is a self-funded charity which has carried out rescue work in 35 countries in the last 15 years. It relies on the generosity of the general public.

Anyone wishing to donate to the charity can visit www.rapidsar.org.uk

Mr Wharrad said: "I would also like to encourage people to donate to the relief fund as a lot of money will still be needed to rebuild the devastated areas."