STAFF from Southampton City Council may be sent thousands of miles to Asia to help rebuild countries shattered by the tsunami disaster which has claimed more than 160,000 lives.

Social workers, teachers and road engineers could be allowed to take time off from their regular jobs to go to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand to help with the rebuilding of vital infrastructure.

Other staff may be given leave if they can offer practical help to countries desperately short of trained workers lost in the tragedy.

City Council leader Adrian Vinson said staff would be allowed to be "seconded" to the stricken regions.

He said he would be asking the advice of the Local Government International Bureau and the Disasters Emergency Committee to see what practical help city council staff could give.

He said: "The people of Southampton, as throughout the country and across the world, have already demonstrated concern by very significant individual and group contributions to charities and relief agencies.

"However, discussions with the mayor, group leaders and senior officers confirms my belief that members, officers and staff of the city council would also wish to assist collectively in whatever way we can as an organisation in the rebuilding of devastated communities, so many of which

have links with citizens of Southampton."

He added that he would be looking to see how the council could offer whatever practical help it could to the victims of the tragedy.

He said: "I have asked that advice be sought about the best way in which we in this city and port could help in the reconstruction - whether through the provision of advice, information and counselling, the secondment of key staff who have particular skills that are now in very short supply, contributing or encouraging the collection of necessary items that it is now economically sensible to transport, partnership arrangements to help rebuild local infrastructure or in other ways."

The south digs deep for tsunami victims - pages 16&17 of tonight's Daily Echo