Funds are desperately needed to get food parcels out to starving victims of the Pakistan floods.

Bradford-based charity Basic Human Rights is pleading with people across the district to give £25 donations to help feed devastated families.

A one-off donation will buy enough food and supplies to feed a family for a month, said the charity, which has its UK head office in Sunbridge Road in Bradford city centre.

Charity spokesman Sarah Gate said staff had been horrified that some major charities had told people not to give for food parcels and instead donate to longer-term projects.

She said: “At this point in time it’s food people need.

“Our colleague who is there now has just told us about a 13-year-old boy they found sheltering under a bridge. He’s lost all his family, he begged them for food and drink. They gave him their own lunches.

“People are desperately hungry. There are 27,000 people stranded who can’t get out.”

Basic Human Rights volunteer Mohammed Ziaulhaq, 26, who is from Pakistan and is studying at the University of Bradford, is worried about his sisters and their families.

Both of them have lost their homes in the village of Pashtoon Ghari, 20 miles from Peshawar city.

He said: “They have been back but their homes are destroyed. The walls are still there but the roofs are broken, and the furniture and all their belongings are smashed up.

“There’s two feet of mud, dead cattle and bodies – some of the bodies have been washed miles and miles away so no one knows who they are.

“The smell is everywhere. The water comes and goes and there are snakes in there. People have been dying from bites.”

Donations will be sent direct to the Basic Human Rights’ officer in charge in Pakistan and will be spent directly on food. “We are trying to identify areas where other charities are not reaching. We want to fill the gap,” said Mr Ziaulhaq.

To help, go to www.basichuman rights.org.uk