LONDON, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Britain has promised 5 million pounds (about 10 million U.S. dollars) to Myanmar to help the survivors of a cyclone that struck on Saturday leaving more than 22,000 dead and many more missing.

    It was the right response for "an extremely serious humanitarian situation" and Britain's contribution was "the largest single effort of any member state of the United Nations so far," International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said, according to BBC News Tuesday.

    Alexander called for the Myanmar government to allow the international community access to carry out assessments and provide much-needed relief.

    Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered at a conference in London earlier sympathy on behalf of the British people to those suffering in Myanmar, saying "I believe nearly 1 million people are now in need of food aid, and we will have to help the families of those where people have died."

    "I want to pledge on behalf of the British government that we will work with the whole international community to make sure that the food aid and the other support that is necessary is available to the people of Burma (Myanmar)," Brown said.

    International aid agencies are pushing to gain access to the area for a massive relief operation.

    Some British charities have already begun distributing aid packages.