BOLTON Euro MP Sir Robert Atkins has published a report into his visit to the Gaza Strip.

Sir Robert, the North West Conservative MEP, said he was shocked to find how bad the situation is in the Palestinian enclave.

He said: “All in all, it is an appalling state of affairs. I had been briefed beforehand as to conditions in Gaza, but it was far worse than I had imagined.

The world needs to know what is going on there and to do something about it.”

Redevelopment of Gaza, since the shelling by Israeli troops in December, 2008, has been slow due to blockades imposed there by Israel.

Concrete and other building materials are not allowed through and Sir Robert, who visited Gaza as part of European Parliament's Delegation to the Palestine Legislative Council, had to travel via Cairo to get there.

He said: “The Strip is about an hour from Tel Aviv airport but we were refused that option and so had to fly to Cairo and then take a wearisome six-hour coach journey through North East Egypt.”

The full report is available to read online at Sir Robert’s website at www.sir-robertatkins.org.