YATE Shopping Centre came to a standstill on Wednesday out of respect for those affected by the earthquake that shook the Indian Ocean.

A three minutes silence was held in memory of those killed when the tsunami hit the coasts of Thailand, the Maldives and Sri Lanka on Boxing Day.

Forty Britons are thought to be among those killed although the death toll is expected to reach into the hundreds.

Rosemary Hutchings, manager of The Card Factory based in the Yate precinct, told the Gazette that her family had been directly affected by the disaster.

She said: "My daughter-in-law's family is from Burma and she has no idea if they are OK or not yet. "My thoughts will be with them during the three minutes silence."

Another by-stander Liz Howard, from Hawkesbury Upton, explained how people in her village had already raised more than £2,000 for the South East Asia Disaster Fund.

She said: "We held a soup kitchen at the weekend and everybody supported it and the money is still coming in.

"It is incredible to think what has happened to those countries and it is a terrible thing.

"I am just trying to think of the positive things that will come as a result of it and that is that countries who may never have spoken to each other before now are helping each out and nations are uniting."