DAILY Echo readers have raised thousands of pounds for victims of the devastating Philippines typhoon.

Almost £16,000 has been gathered for those who have lost everything following one of the strongest storms ever recorded.

The money will add to the £73million donated by members of the British public for the Disasters Emergency Committee Philippines Typhoon appeal, to provide aid such as food, clean water and medical care.

The group editor of the Daily Echo and the Dorset Echo, Toby Granville, spoke out as the appeal closed yesterday. He said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated to the appeal.

“The response has been incredible – we’ve been absolutely amazed at how many people have sent in a cheque. Every single penny raised will go directly to helping those who need it most. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of all those who decided they couldn’t simply stand by and see the coverage in the news without helping those who lost everything in the typhoon.”

DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said the relief effort was ongoing.

“In homes up and down the country people have seen the devastation in the Philippines and decided that they simply had to help,” he said.

“In many cases, we know they are facing considerable hardship themselves, but they gave anyway.”

He added: “Our member agencies cannot undo the damage done by Typhoon Haiyan, not in a month or even a year, but they have worked with their partners to overcome enormous obstacles to deliver emergency aid to hundreds of thousands of survivors. The relief effort is ongoing and we must continue to scale it up, but we must also begin to support the affected people of the Philippines down the slow, hard road they face to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.”

More than 11million people were affected by the torrential rain and winds of 195 miles per hour, which destroyed whole villages.

Around 5,000 were killed, and up to four million displaced, when Super Typhoon Haiyan hit on November 8.

So far, the 14 DEC member agencies have reached more than 900,000 people across the Philippines.