Mr Brown said the military junta should be held to account for its "negligence" and warned the disaster, which is estimated to have claimed more than 100,000 lives, was in danger of becoming a "man-made catastrophe".

In an interview for the BBC World Service, the Prime Minister said Burma's ruling generals would be judged by the world and their own people for thwarting the assistance offered by the rest of the world.

Asked if he believed it was time for forced air-drops of aid, Mr Brown said it remained an option. But he said aid bodies were advising the most effective course of action was for nations to apply pressure on the Burmese regime to force it to accept foreign aid.

He told the broadcaster: "This is inhuman. We have an intolerable situation, created by a natural disaster.

"It is being made into a man-made catastrophe by the negligence, the neglect and the inhuman treatment of the Burmese people by a regime that is failing to act and to allow the international community to do what it wants to do.

"The responsibility lies with the Burmese regime and they must be held accountable."

He said the British government was working with the international community to channel foreign aid through China and the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

"That's what we're trying to do as quickly as possible and with great speed," the Prime Minister added.

France's UN ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, speaking at a UN General Assembly session, had earlier rejected Burmese claims that a French aid ship in international waters off Burma's coast was a warship.