AS Britain wakes this morning the SERVE ON rescue team, which has its headquarters at Salisbury, is already hard at work searching remote rural areas of Nepal for survivors of Saturday's devastating earthquake.

The team, many with occupations from firefighters to engineers, have been joined by medics and dog handlers and are assessing a district where early indications are of severe damage to nearly half of all buildings.

In the village the team are searching now, 70-80 per cent of homes have been destroyed and there are many fatalities.

Team members describe the buildings as looking like film sets - facades are intact but, on entering, they find the whole of the back of the buildings have fallen away.

Its estimated that between 700 to 1,100 people may have died in the surrounding area, with over a hundred small villages now inaccessible by road.

Some will take four to five days to reach on foot through difficult terrain. It's raining hard and the operating conditions are difficult.

They are working closely with the Nepalese army, but the team of 16 are the only international rescuers in this district, and were the first contact affected villagers had with the outside world.

The SERVE ON team are travelling light, with essential search and rescue equipment to identify any signs of life in the rubble.

They can also provide up to 8,000 litres a day of clean filtered water to support other rescuers and the affected communities, and generators as the electricity supply has also failed.

SERVE ON members are all volunteers and rely on the support of their families and employers to enable them to leave at short notice to do this dangerous work.

On arrival in Kathmandu the team searched some larger structures like hotels and hospitals, before being re-tasked to push the rescue effort outside of the city.

The team have slotted into an established United Nations framework and years of training, practicing and deploying together mean that many of the international rescue teams are well known to each other.

SERVE ON are particularly proud that organisations they have supported to grow are also responding in Nepal and have made a number of rescues.

Members of SERVE ON were in Kathmandu just five months ago sharing their expertise with local agencies as part of an earthquake preparation programme.

Despite being the first British rescue team into Nepal, SERVE ON are a small charity and rely entirely on donations from the public and will not benefit from DEC funding.

Anyone interested in supporting their work can donate direct to the charity through their website at www.serveon.org.uk or through links on twitter @SERVE_ON

Meanwhile International Development Secretary Justine Greening said today that Britain is to give another £5 million of support to the rescue efforts in Nepal bringing the total response to the earthquake to £15 million.

Today's additional package includes a 30-strong medical team carrying eight tonnes of equipment, including medical supplies and bandages, a generator and tents. They are funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and managed by Save the Children in partnership with the UK Med and Handicap International.

There will also be airfield handling equipment, including two forklift trucks, to facilitate the swift movement of aid supplies off aircraft and help ease congestion at Kathmandu airport.

The UK will also fund experts in water, health and sanitation to assist the World Food Programme, Unicef and UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund).

Ms Greening said: "The UK is playing a leading role in response to the Nepal earthquake.

"We are boosting the British humanitarian effort by deploying more medics to treat the injured and delivering supplies that will help get aid through, including heavy lifting equipment to ensure supplies at Kathmandu airport can reach those in need."

The UK has previously pledged £10 million to the relief operation which includes £3 million released under the Rapid Response Facility so partners can address immediate needs on the ground, £2 million for the British Red Cross, and up to £5 million to match public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee's appeal.

The UK is also providing expert support and assistance on the ground. DFID has deployed a team of more than 60 search and rescue responders and medical experts, while an RAF C-17 flight is delivering UK aid stocks, including more than 1,100 shelter kits and 1,700 solar lanterns, along with a team of Gurkha engineers.

British Embassy staff have provided practical help to more than 250 British nationals.

Anyone caught up in the incident, or worried about a loved one, should call the Foreign Office on +44 (0) 207 008 0000.