Anti-war protest halts traffic

More than 200 people gathered in Brighton and Hove to show there was still strong opposition to the campaign in the Middle East.

While numbers were lower than a previous protest, which saw 5,000 people take part in sit-down demonstrations and marches on March 20, the throng still managed to bring the city centre to a standstill.

Traffic was held up as the crowd moved through the city.

Many of the protesters last night vowed not to stop their demonstrations until the conflict was over, in a bid to keep up the pressure on the Government to call off the war.

Protesters said the aim was to show Prime Minister Tony Blair that a large section of the community had not changed its mind about opposing the campaign.

Scores of students from Sussex and Brighton Universities joined the protest, with many mingling with members of the RMT union at Brighton station, who were holding a picket over a pay dispute.

The majority of demonstrators gathered in Churchill Square just after 6pm when they chanted slogans against the war.

It was the second Friday night protest organised by anti-war groups in Sussex.

Nicky Hardwick of Sussex Action for peace said: "It is a question of keeping a presence on the street, showing the anti-war campaign is not going away."

The band of protesters left Churchill Square beating drums and shouting anti-war messages as they marched through the city.

Lines of police marshalled the procession.

The group marched down North Street, along the Old Steine up North Road, Queens Road and past the railway station.

Protester Anna Monaghan, 48, of Kemp Town, said: "Innocent people have no food or water and their homes are being burnt."

Another protester said: "The war is totally illegal. It is without the backing of the United Nations."

Jane Hare, 37, of Buckingham Road, Brighton, said: "Innocent men, women and children are getting massacred."

Most of the demonstrators dispersed after about an hour.