ARRESTS were made yesterday at a demonstration outside a military base to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the Iraq war.

Peace campaigners attempted to blockade the secretive US listening base at Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, during a day of action.

Protestors locked arms and laid across the road in front of the entrance to the base, which is part of the National Security Agency's electronic eavesdropping network.

They were taken away by police, who maintained a heavy presence at the site from the early hours.

The first demonstrators arrived at about 4.30am, with most gathering around the main entrance gate and others making their way around the perimeter, looking for side gates.

Despite driving rain and high winds, they attempted to stop traffic getting in by lying on the road in a human chain.

But police removed them from the road and held them back from the entrance to allow cars to get through.

Various groups arrived by minibuses as the day progressed, but there was no mass gathering and police estimated the total turn out by protestors was about 150.

Twenty-nine arrests were made, mainly for obstruction and criminal damage, but the protest passed mostly peacefully, said a spokesman.

Protestors even helped a policeman retrieve his helmet when it was blown off.

Police video-taped many of the demonstrators who came from Harrogate, York, Halifax, Leeds, Manchester, as well as further afield.

CND spokesman Neil Kingsnorth insisted the attempted blockade had been worth it from the protestors' point of view.

"We have really achieved what we wanted to do, which was to disrupt the running of the base," he said last night.

"We believe the activities inside Menwith Hill are illegal and we have now helped to raise its profile among people who may have known nothing about it before."

Chief Superintendent Bernie Mitchell said: "We worked successfully to ensure the highway was not obstruct-ed and access to the base was maintained at all times."