Anti-war demonstrators confronted their MP during his weekly surgery last night.

Up to 30 people waved banners at Hove MP Ivor Caplin as he talked to his constituents at Portslade Town Hall.

Police arrived as the demonstrators waited to see the Labour MP to protest at his support for the Government's stance on war with Iraq.

Mr Caplin had earlier closed the shutters on several demonstrators as they held placards against the surgery's windows.

One protester, first time voter Victoria Wakefield-Jarrett, 18, from Hove, said: "He is not taking any notice of a large proportion of his constituency. I definitely won't vote for him in the next elections and I don't think I could vote for Labour in the council elections either, even though I know they are not pro-war."

Mr Caplin's office manager, Councillor Sue John, insisted the protesters should have made an appointment to see the MP like everyone else.

She said: "A lot of the people who turn up to these surgeries are already traumatised. This has not made things any easier for them. It has been quite intimidating for them."

Mr Caplin agreed to meet a delegation of three of the protesters, telling them he backed the Government's current efforts at diplomacy all the way.

He said he believed he represented the majority of opinion in Hove.

Protesters had turned up at Hove Town Hall to discover the surgery was being held in the town hall at Portslade instead.