Police have criticised a minority of protesters who caused trouble at an anti-war demonstration in Brighton on Friday night.

Fourteen people were arrested when 250 demonstrators marched through Brighton in opposition to the war on Iraq.

Bottles, flour and eggs were thrown and police officers in riot gear were called in.

The demonstration began peacefully at 5.30pm in Churchill Square as crowds gathered to listen to speakers calling for the war to stop.

The speakers included Amer Azbazaz, who is from Iraq and is now living in Telscombe Cliffs, and Michael Jones, an ex-solider who fought in the Gulf but is now living homeless in Brighton.

The banner-waving crowd moved down North Street to the sound of drums and up through traffic in the Old Steine which hooted in support of their protest, as police tried to block the roads.

They marched up to the Esso Station in Lewes Road but a group broke off and went up to London Road were they protested outside McDonalds.

Police in riot gear lined up outside defending it with their shields as some demonstrators started throwing missiles at police.

The crowd moved back down the Old Steine and up North Road through on coming traffic, and paused outside the army recruitment office in Queens Road before making their way to Western Road.

As they gathered outside the McDonalds area in Western Road at around 8.30pm, some protesters climbed onto scaffolding and posts.

They then staged a sit down protest across the road for about an hour as police cordoned them in with dogs, vans and officers in riot gear.

Witnesses accused the police of being heavy-handed with the demonstrators.

Sarah Oakley, 36, of Park Village, Sussex University, had just finished shopping in Lewes Road Sainsbury's with her nine-year-old daughter, Ellie, when the demonstrators marched up to the Esso garage.

She said: "Some people were sitting down in the road. Police charged through the crowd. There were children in the crowd and everything.

"A cyclist came along and five or six policeman charged at him and knocked him off his bike."

Benjamin Coleman, 25, was one of the legal observers at the demonstration, watching to see how the police were doing their job.

He accused them of being more heavy handed than they were at anti-war demonstration in October and said police charged into the crowd on Western Road with batons.

The police were unable to comment on the accusations.

However, Chief Superintendent Paul Curtis, divisional commander for Brighton and Hove, said: "Once again we have tried to facilitate a peaceful protest by genuine protesters but a very small minority were intent on confronting the police and inciting violence.

"There were no reports of any injuries being caused during the demonstration nor of damage to any buildings "The 14 arrests were for public order offences and obstructing the highway."