An appeal to bring aid to refugee camp sites dubbed "health disaster zones" in Europe has been launched at the Hare Krishna temple in Aldenham.

Irishman Peter O'Grady is working with Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hilfield Lane to collect items and send them to Brussels and Calais where migrants are living.

Mr O'Grady, of Gaddesden Crescent, Garston,who visited the camp site in Brussels two weeks ago, said: "From the distance the site looks like Glastonbury but as you enter it is a sad sight.

"All the refugee camps I have ever visited have been in Asia or the Middle East, so the concept of refugees living almost locally in crisis is a sad sign of the times.

"When we went there was one makeshift building, which was the kitchen but that has now all been demolished."

The Brussels camp has more than 2,000 migrants living in tents.

The 52-year-old added: "It simply takes one or two days of rain and the camp becomes a health disaster zone.

"At the camps there was no real indication that the refugees were getting serious help, and when we turned up with healthy food, we witnessed an extremely large queue of hungry people."

Mr O'Grady, who also works with the charity Feed the 5,000, is working with the Hare Krishna temple to collect clothes, food, blankets, tents, pots, pans and funds for the other camps in France and Belgium.

A group from the temple and charity will be taking two vans full of donation to the Calais camp on Tuesday.

Mr O'Grady said: "It is very urgent now that the weather is changing - with winter approaching the migrants could be in serious trouble.

"Up until recently the weather wasn't too bad but now, with the cold and wet weather it is a health hazard. There are no proper toilets and people are living in makeshift tents.

"We don't claim to know all the politics of how the Syrian war came about or the long term solutions, but we do feel compelled to do what little we can to help."

Anyone wanting to donate items can simply drop them off to the Hare Krishna temple.