Britain has called on the International Cricket Council to ban Zimbabwe from playing international matches because of its human rights record, a government spokesman said on Monday.

Britain has strongly criticised Zimbabwe's urban demolition campaign which a U.N. report said has destroyed the livelihoods of some 700,000 people.

The Zimbabwe government says the operation was aimed at rooting out urban crime and was a prelude to a programme to build better housing for poor people.

"We would now like to ask if the ICC [Images] could reflect on the current situation and take a view on whether or not they see international cricket fixtures against and/or in Zimbabwe to be appropriate while such widespread human rights abuses are taking place," said Foreign Minister Jack Straw and Culture Minister Tessa Jowell in a letter to the International Cricket Council.

Last year some human rights groups criticised the British government for not stopping England's [Images] cricket tour of Zimbabwe.

Ministers said they had not wanted the tour to go ahead but could not instruct England not to go.