A LEADING defence expert today said he feared that plans to use North Yorkshire's U.S. military bases at Fylingdales and Menwith Hill as part of the Son of Star Wars defence system could place the area in risk.

Malcolm Harper, director of the United Nations Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, made his remarks in a letter to a national newspaper.

The letter read: "Fylingdales is crucial to U.S. plans, but I and many of my colleagues see agreement on it as a potential threat to our security.

"Any attempt by an armed group or state to thwart the system could involve a strike on the bases at Fylingdales and Menwith Hill.

"It appears that the Government has given little consideration to the impact on the local population and UK society at large of such an attack, particularly if it involved a weapon of mass destruction."

Mr Harper's comments came as the Archbishop of York stressed he remained opposed to war.

National stories have suggested he had given his backing to an attack on Iraq, but Dr David Hope said he would only support war if there was absolutely no alternative.

In a television interview, Dr Hope said: "I have to stand with the Christian tradition. I have a very strong antipathy almost ingrained in me towards war and conflict.

"At the end of the day I have to recognise, however, that human nature can be so fallen and dark - the forces of evil and wickedness - these have to be addressed. I would say that, in the very last resort, it might be possible that we have to resort to war."

But his official spokesman said: "One of the questions the Archbishop is asking is, if we do end up in a position where war is the only way, who makes that decision?

"He is more close to the United Nations as a governing body of world order than I have ever known him be. He still believes that war should be the last resort, and he would only support the Prime Minister if the criteria for war was right. He would have strong reservations about any bandwagonning."

He said that Dr Hope's opinions had not changed since he wrote a message for the Evening Press shortly after the September 11 attacks in the USA.

In it, he said a set of rules must be met before war can take place.

He said: "We have to face the fact that war and conflict does and will happen. So, when armed conflict breaks out, the Christian Church has usually invoked what it describes as the "just war" criteria - a set of basic rules expounded in the Middle Ages and attributed to St Thomas Aquinas.

"It recognises that in certain situations and circumstances, and as a very last resort, it is possible to speak of a just war."

Meanwhile, York protesters sent Prime Minister Tony Blair three Christmas cards urging him to oppose the participation of North Yorkshire's bases in the plans, and to halt moves for war in Iraq.

Campaigners at Fylingdales were stunned when defence chiefs invited them into the base for a tour.

The Reverend Ann MacKeith and Mike Winstanley, members of the Darlington for Peace pressure group, were invited in by the station commander while they were protesting outside.

"He spoke with us for 30 minutes, including driving us round the site," said Mrs MacKeith.

"He was very open and clear in his explanation of the tasks the station currently carries out."

Updated: 11:28 Monday, December 23, 2002