THOUSANDS of anti-war campaigners will leave the region tomorrow to protest against war with Iraq.

Organisers from the Stop The War Coalition have been inundated with people from the region wanting to take part in the march.

Many of the regional branches are having to turn away supporters because coaches are fully booked and they are unable to hire more buses because of the high demand.

In York alone, 23 coaches carrying 1,200 people will be travelling to London.

Students from Teesside University, Newcastle University and York University will also be attending.

Dennis McDonald, of Sunderland Stop The War Campaign, said organisers had been staggered by the numbers wanting to join the march.

He said: "The people who are going on the march cover the whole spectre of society.

"We have marchers aged from 16 to 75. We have been absolutely amazed by the support.

"It reflects the nation. This war is unnecessary and is morally unjust.

"North-East people want to go to London to make their voice heard and they obviously feel strongly about it."

Organisers believe as many as 500,000 to a million people will attend the march, which is organised by the Stop the War Coalition, The Muslim Association of Britain and The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

On Saturday, people travelling from the south and west of England will march from the Embankment at noon.

Supporters coming from the north will walk from Gower Street, in central London. Both parties will converge before they reach Hyde Park.

Speakers on the day include former Redcar MP and Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, veteran parliamentarians Tony Benn and Michael Foot, playwright Harold Pinter, Damon Albarn of Blur, and singer Ms Dynamite.

Members of Peace Action Durham are travelling by train.

The group said it is delighted at the people's responses after gathering more than 500 signatures on a petition opposing the war.

The completed forms were being sent to Durham MP Gerry Steinberg, who, in turn, would be asked to pass them over to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Several of Mr Blair's backbench MPs have voiced concern over the country's progress towards war.

Stockton North Labour MP Frank Cook hoped to be on the march.

He said: "This is not a war but a straightforward attack on Iraq - and I've not seen anything to justify that.

"I've absolutely no sympathy for the Iraqi regime or for Saddam Hussein and I was warning about him 25 years ago. But Mr Bush seems determined that many innocent people will lose their lives.

"The real danger is that this will provide a fertile source of recruitment for any terrorist organisation."

He added: "We should remember the words of John Lennon: 'Give peace a chance'."

His Labour colleague, Derek Foster, MP for Bishop Auckland, County Durham, said he had "a lot of sympathy with what the marchers are saying". But though a Christian, he said he was not a pacifist and that war, sanctioned through the UN, might be necessary.

He said: "I would insist Tony Blair should stick to the UN route, come what may. He needs to deploy all his diplomatic skills on the US to ensure they don't deviate from that path.

"The stakes are so high that if Bush goes outside the UN, what future does it have? If he sticks to the UN, he will gain a lot of credit in the world, which at the moment thinks he is pursuing his own agenda."