A GROUP of divers who were on a Sri Lankan beach when the devastating Boxing Day tsunami hit have set up a formal charity committee to help the desperate villagers who saved them.

Redditch and Bromsgrove members of the Millennium Dive Centre were preparing to dive from a beach at Hikkaduwa in the south of the island when the killer wave struck.

Now back in the UK, the group has already raised £10,000 for the villagers who helped them but member Michelle Mills said many of the divers were still coming to terms with their narrow escape, reported in last week's Advertiser.

Ms Mills said: "I can almost understand what a soldier feels like on return from action.

''The rest of the population just carry on unaffected and you find it very hard to deal with normality or the trivial things in life.

"I was shopping the other day to replace what I lost out there and I just burst into tears. The emotions are still so real."

The group's priority now is to get as much money to the villagers to help them build shelters before the monsoon season in April.

After that, they want to help them fix their fishing boats.

The group also has particular concern for the future of their Sri Lankan friend, Chaminda, whose Hikkaduwa diving centre was obliterated by the tsunami.

The new committee is now applying for an official charity number.

Anyone who would like to donate in the meantime can call 882220 or 0845 0777711.