A former MP wants to see more help for Beirut following a huge explosion which left the city in a state of emergency.

Sir Tony Cunningham, former MP for Workington, was part of the International Development Committee when he visited Beirut six years ago.

A huge explosion in the city on Tuesday killed at least 135 people and injured more than 4,000 others.

A two-week state of emergency has begun.

Sir Tony believes an international effort is needed to help Lebanon.

"A point which hasn't come across in the media so far is that the economy of Lebanon is in an awful state due to the civil war and Covid-19 hit Lebanon quite hard.

"According to the last figures I saw, there were 1.5 million refugees in Lebanon, they come from Syria, Palestine, Iraq and other countries.

"Its economy is in absolute dire straits and with Covid, the number of refugees has probably gone up.

"In my view, with the capital blowing up, there needs to be an international effort to try and help Lebanon, because it's in a desperate situation."

Sir Tony also recalled his visit to Beirut.

"It was encouraging in that there seemed to be people going into shops and restaurants, Beirut used to be the Riviera of the Middle East, the beaches were full and the hotels were full, but the refugee camps were just desperate.

"The explosion could be heard in Cyprus, I wonder how many people have been on holiday in Cyprus in the past and not even thought about those countries.

"Syria and Lebanon are just across the water from Cyprus."

The country's president, Michel Aoun said the explosion was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely. Ammonium nitrate is used as a fertiliser in agriculture and as an explosive.

A number of port officials have been placed under house arrests as an investigation into the incident is underway.

The BBC reported that specialists at the University of Sheffield estimate that the blast had about one tenth of the explosive power of the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War Two and was "unquestionably one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history".