Ebola nurse slams Band Aid single

Band Aid 30, who performed the 2014 version of Do They Know It's Christmas?

The British nurse who survived Ebola has described the new Band Aid charity single as "cringeworthy".

William Pooley went back to work at an isolation unit in Sierra Leone in West Africa, despite having been airlifted to London after catching the disease.

He urged people who want to help fight Ebola to donate money to charities working with patients directly.

Pooley criticised the lyrics in the reworked version of Do They Know It's Christmas? featuring One Direction, Bono and Ed Sheeran and put together by Bob Geldof.

"On the way into work I heard the first half of it. It's definitely being talked about here among my colleagues," he told Radio Times magazine.

Watch the music video for Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid 30:

"But stuff about Do They Know It's Christmas? - it's just like, actually people live normal lives here and do normal things.

"It's Africa, not another planet. That sort of cultural ignorance is a bit cringeworthy. There's a lyric about 'death in every tear'. It's just a bit much."

Asked if he had a message for people back in Britain, he said: "I would say that it's a good idea to read as much as you can about what's going on in West Africa, and if you feel so inclined then donate some money to one of the charities, like King's, that are working out here, directly caring for Ebola patients."

His comments come after pop star Emeli Sande, who featured in Band Aid 30, said the song needed rewriting.

- PAA