MORE than 100 pupils at a York primary school have signed a petition against the war in Iraq.

The petition, started at Fishergate Primary by ten-year-old Carol Harris, above, is being sent to York MP Hugh Bayley.

Carol said: "I did it because innocent people are dying. We shouldn't really be there - it's only because Tony Blair followed George Bush into the war."

Head teacher Angela Johnson said pupils stated in the petition how saddened they were by the war in Iraq and how they wanted it to come to an end.

It expressed concern about the effects of the war on Iraqi people, but also about the dangers to British soldiers fighting in the war. She said a number of pupils were the children of servicemen, and she stressed that the petition was not in any way critical of, or intended to undermine, soldiers who were involved in the conflict.

Children had been free to sign the petition if they wished, but had not come under any pressure to do so. Many younger children who might not understand the issues involved had not signed it. Mrs Johnson added that staff had given pupils opportunities to discuss the war, and some youngsters had written poems and made posters for peace.

Updated: 10:06 Tuesday, March 25, 2003