THE anti-war message has gone out across the Faithful City, with almost 200 people gathering to express their opposition to war with Iraq.

Whistles, drums and chanting accompanied the protesters as they marched through the city centre on Saturday, rallied to the cause by the Worcester Stop the War Coalition.

Shoppers stopped and stared as the crowd, made up of children, teenagers, parents and grandparents, thronged past, waving placards declaring No Blood for Oil and This War is Breeding Terrorism.

After marching down High Street, around Angel Place, back up Broad Street and along The Shambles, the protesters gathered at the Guildhall.

Individual protesters were able to have their say during an open-microphone session.

Mum-of-two, Ruth Holland, who was marching with Joshua, aged 10, and Emily, eight, said that, as a mother, she could not agree with the bombing of women and children.

"I'm a mother, the same as the mothers in Iraq. We're no different," said Mrs Holland, of Warndon Villages, Worcester.

"They're just trying to live a normal life and bring their children up - do the best they can, the same as all of us.

"We don't have the right to go and destroy that for no apparent reason."

Sahail Ferraz, 23, said that while he thought Saddam Hussein "had to go", war was not the answer.

"We do hate Saddam Hussein but the way they're doing it will cause no distress or grief to him," said Mr Ferraz, a Muslim who worships at the Tallow Hill Mosque, in Worcester.

He was one of about 10 Muslims at the protest, some of who were members of the Worcester Muslim Association.

"Saddam Hussein must face the courts for the crimes he has committed," continued Mr Ferraz, who said he was "Worcester born and bred".

Quakers Mary Speechley, 77, from Kempsey, and her friend, Mavis Horton, 74, from Eckington, near Pershore, were at the rally to protest against a war they believed is "illegal and unnecessary".

"It's also a very dangerous war, in terms of the possible after-effects," said Mrs Speechley, a widow. "We did live through a big war - I've heard bombs coming down and it's not nice."

Christine Barnes, of St John's, was marching with her 20-month-old granddaughter, Lucca.

"I want a safe and peaceful future for this little one. Bombing Iraq wouldn't provide that. It will make it worse and lead to more counter-attacks against us," she said.