THOUSANDS of visitors and residents in York have signed a petition opposing military action against Iraq.

Peace campaigners have been collecting signatures in St Sampson's Square every Saturday for several months - they believe that George W Bush and Tony Blair should not start a war with Iraq.

They say it will be ordinary Iraqis, the people who have suffered most under Saddam Hussein's Government, who will be the main victims of any war.

York MP Hugh Bayley yesterday picked up 92 petition forms, containing more than 2,000 names, which he will pass on to the Government.

Patricia Brar, of York Against the War, group, said the aim of the national Stop The War Coalition was to collect 100,000 signatures by the time Parliament reconvenes.

She said the rate at which they were collecting signatures in York was increasing every week and the group said fewer people were stopping to argue with them that there should be a war.

Mr Bayley said: "I want to avoid war, so we have to get Saddam Hussein to let United Nations weapons inspectors back into Iraq to dismantle Iraqi weapons systems which violate UN Security Council resolutions.

"I hope the peace campaigners are lobbying Iraq as strongly as they are lobbying our government about the need for peace."

Updated: 11:18 Monday, August 26, 2002