Anti-war protesters made sure their message gained the utmost exposure by stripping naked to spell out a plea for peace.

A group of about 40 campaigners bared all in bitterly cold weather in a nude demonstration against a possible war with Iraq. They lay head-to-toe to form the word Peace with their bodies in 4C temperatures at Ashdown Forest, near Forest Row.

They said Britain joining America in military action against Iraq was not the answer to preventing further conflicts.

Protest organiser Mike Grenville, 52, of Upper Close, Forest Row, said: "You cannot fight a war on terror with aggression and destruction.

"If you do that, the war will come back on us and, as we have seen recently, you don't need sophisticated bombing planes to do that any more.

"It's quite feasible for our water networks to be poisoned or other biologic weapons used. I believe in the saying as you sow, so shall you reap.

"This is not a conflict we should be getting ourselves involved in as there is no credible threat to our security and I believe a majority of people in this country believe that."

Naked protester Ursula Stone, of Port Horn Close, Forest Row, said this was the gravest global crisis since the end of the Cold War.

She added: "For us to take our clothes off in public, in the middle of winter, shows the strength of feeling.

"This simply isn't a conflict we should be getting involved in."

Their protest was organised as HMS Ark Royal left Portsmouth to head the largest British maritime task force since the 1982 Falklands War.

The Royal Navy's flagship warship left home shores at the weekend as pressure on Saddam continues to build.

Prime Minister Tony Blair faces growing dissent from within his own ranks over his approach to the crisis.

Surveys of grassroots Labour chairmen found activists could quit the party if Britain joined the US in an assault on Iraq.

Some warned Mr Blair could face another 1956 Suez crisis, when Sir Anthony Eden lost the premiership after taking Britain into war without public support.

Mr Grenville said: "Seeing our fellow countrymen and women leaving for the Gulf fills us with mixed feelings.

"We want to support them in doing a difficult task but I think everyone is asking what's the point."