European states are mobilising for a fresh round of pressure on Syria, as Britain and France table a UN Security Council resolution condemning Damascus’s brutal crackdown on protests and the European Union prepares new sanctions on Syrian companies.

Despite the regime’s concerted security campaign to crush a popular uprising that has so far resulted in an estimated 1,000 deaths and the alleged use of tanks and helicopters against towns in revolt, world powers have reacted slowly to the Syrian crisis, in sharp contrast to the international effort to dislodge Libya’s Muammer Gaddafi.

The lack of regional Arab consensus on Syria and resistance from Russia and China have so far prevented action at the UN, with the pressure confined to travel bans and asset freezes on regime figures imposed by the US and the EU.