A committee of MPs has slammed the West's failure to deal with the crisis in Darfur.

The Commons international development committee said the international community's response to the crisis in Sudan has been "scandalously ineffective".

In a hard-hitting report, the MPs also warned the death toll in the crisis hit region of Sudan is set to reach around 300,000, with crimes committed in the region "no less serious and heinous than genocide".

"The world's failure to protect the people of Darfur from the atrocities committed against them by their own government is a scandal," said committee chairman Tony Baldry.