DEMONSTRATORS against war with Iraq made their presence felt in Lyndhurst despite being told they couldn't hold a march there.

Organisers of the gathering, run by the New Forest Peace Group and Stop the War Coalition, were unable to stage an official march, so instead took their banners and placards into the village to do a "window shop", followed by a picnic at Bolton's Bench in the chilly March wind. Saturday's event also coincided with International Women's Day.

Ann Fannin from Barton on Sea, who came up with the idea, said: "So many people I talked to were anti-war - so I decided to book a 53-seater coach to go to London and join in the anti-war demonstration. We filled the coach, and a second and a third."

Ann and her friends wanted to stage a march through Lyndhurst, to bring the protest back to the New Forest. But the idea was blocked as there were not enough resources to police a march and protestors were told they would have to pay for it themselves.

New Forest District Council wanted two months' notice for a road closure and the Forestry Commission said a by-law prevented meetings, sermons or lectures on Forestry Commission land without consent. At the picnic, demonstrators shared food, recited anti-war poems, and made their feelings about war known.