There will be a service of remembrance in Canterbury Cathedral at 6.30pm on Sunday for victims of the Chinese earthquake and Burmese cyclone disasters.

It will be the first ever joint English and Chinese service held in the building in its thousand-year history.

Following the earthquake in Sichuan province in China and the appalling devastation wrought by the cyclone in Burma, members of the Chinese community in Canterbury have been actively responding to the disaster, including raising funds.

A new official death toll puts the number of people killed in the May 12 disaster in China at 69,016, with another 18,830 missing.

Almost 7,000 classrooms are reported to have collapsed, killing more than 11,000 children and teachers, and triggering complaints that the schools were badly built.

A month after Burma was devastated by a cyclone, foreign aid agencies say a quarter of a million people have still not received any help.

The vicar of St Mary Bredin Church in Canterbury, the Rev Chris Pemberton, who is helping to organise the service, said: "It is open to all those who have been affected by the disaster.

"I’m very grateful to the Cathedral staff for their willingness in allowing us to use the building to remember the many in our own country who have been greatly affected by these appalling natural disasters.

"It will be an opportunity for us to remember and pray for those who have died and the aid agency workers who are continuing their relief work in harrowing conditions."