The tide of public protest against the war in Iraq appeared to have turned as police estimate fewer than 100,000 demonstrators took to the streets of London.



This is considerably lower than the estimated one million who staged a similar protest last month.

The march through the capital, culminating in a rally in Hyde Park, was among a series of demonstrations around Britain and across the world.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), which organised the London event, estimated the banner-waving crowds at 150,000 but police said they believed the number was below 100,000.

But they praised the behaviour of the demonstrators as "good-natured and peaceful" and said there had been no arrests.

On February 15, crowds estimated at between 750,000 and two million people took part in a march and rally.

Some protesters blamed the low turn-out on apathy among the public since the war on Iraq began this week.

Veteran protester John Williams, who demonstrated outside the American Embassy in London in 1968 and was marching today, said: "People in Britain are indifferent to what's going on in Iraq.

"It's really a case that nobody cares because it's other people. If they were British people dying, they would be much more worried about that."

Reflecting on the low turnout compared with last month, a CND spokesman said: "It was almost inevitable that it would not be as big as that because that was one of the biggest marches in the history of this country. I believe that people are frustrated that they demonstrated the last time and the Government did not change their mind."