A major evacuation effort is underway in Indonesia amid concerns that the notorious Mount Kelud may erupt.

The volcano, situated on the heavily populated Java island, was thought to have erupted at the weekend after instruments showed major tremors, but it has since been confirmed that there was no such eruption.

However, tremors have been getting stronger ever since and there are now concerns that it could blow at any moment, prompting the mass evacuation effort.

Despite the warnings, thousands of people have so far refused to leave their homes within the six mile exclusion zone established by the Indonesian authorities.

It is estimated that as many as 350,000 people live within the exclusion zone but it is thought that as many as 25,000 have so far refused to move to government shelters.