YORK Green Party councillor Mark Hill was today arrested at an anti-war demonstration at the North Yorkshire spy base at Menwith Hill.

Coun Hill had received two warnings from the police after lying down and trying to block traffic at the main gate of the US base, near Harrogate.

The third time Coun Hill lay down in front of a car, two officers arrested him for obstructing the highway. He was marched to the back of a police van and held there.

After the arrest, more police officers moved forward in front of the small group of demonstrators and mounted police moved in to stand near the edges of the demonstration.

Before his arrest, Coun Hill had said the fact Menwith Hill was here in North Yorkshire was "outrageous".

"The place is completely unaccountable," he said.

Protesters started arriving as early as 3am. Activists tried to chain each other together and block the gates of the base.

A number were arrested, although some managed to "lock-on", including Dave Havard, a Mohican-sporting Anglican deacon from Sheffield.

Mr Havard, who visited Baghdad during the war, used a bicycle lock to chain himself to a wheelchair.

He said: "It is not fair on the people of Yorkshire that this base is here, it makes us a target. It is totally unaccountable and has never been debated by the British parliament."

Among 29 people arrested was the well-known peace campaigner, Lindis Percy, from Hull, who famously chained herself to the gates of Buckingham Palace in protest against last November's visit by US president George Bush.

Updated: 14:48 Friday, March 19, 2004