banbury Muslim leader Sarfraz Bhatti flew to Pakistan yesterday (January 26) to plan the rebuilding of an Asian school that was wrecked by last year's earthquake.

Mr Bhatti will be away for two months to set up the project, which will see pupils in Banbury and Bloxham raising money to pay for the rebuilding.

Many schools, such as the one in Muzaffarabad were destroyed by the earthquake.

The scheme will be run in partnership with Banbury School, The Warriner School in Bloxham, Frank Wise School, and Banbury residents.

Mr Bhatti will tour Kashmir to find a suitable location for the project. When he returns home, Pakistan's High Commissioner in London, Dr Maleeha Lodhi, will visit Banbury to discuss the venture.

Mr Bhatti, the liaison officer for Banbury Muslims, was at a House of Commons party recently to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid, where he met Dr Lodhi. Mr Bhatti told him that the Banbury community and Banbury School wanted to do something positive and lasting for the people whose lives were devastated by the earthquake in October and rebuilding a school seemed a fitting way to help.

Dr Lodhi said: "It will take years to rehabilitate the earthquake victims and rebuild entire villages and towns and replace their infrastructure.

"We hope the international community will stand by Pakistan in this gigantic task.

"The desire expressed by the Banbury community to rebuild a school in one of the stricken areas shows great compassion and is much appreciated." In Pakistan, Mr Bhatti will meet education officials and visit the devastated areas.

He said: "Travelling around might be difficult, because of the winter. The snow has already arrived in many areas and some places are cut off."

Graham Teager, vice-principal of Banbury School, said: "It's an excellent idea and we're involving our students as much as possible. They're already full of ideas for fundraising."