Anti-war protesters aiming to occupy the offices of West Chelmsford MP Simon Burns during a routine surgery arrived to find them firmly closed.
One of them had issued a press release saying that they intended to occupy the surgery, in Rectory Lane, in protest at Mr Burns's continuing support of the war.
Instead, three protesters, Sue Morhall, Jonathon Barker and Jean Gilbert, stood outside with a placard publicising an anti-war march in London.
Mr Burns said that he had closed the surgery and dealt "in other ways" with the concerns of all those who had been scheduled to see him.
"One of the people coming was going to occupy my office," he said. "I support the moves to liberate Iraq and put an end to the torture, rape and desecration by Saddam Hussein and his regime.
"Occupying offices is illegal. I had a number of other people coming and did not want them to be disrupted by this sort of behaviour. People are entitled to see their MP."
Ms Morhall said: "This was just a cowardly action. It is all about freedom of speech. We would not have been violent, but were just going to state our opposition to his support for the war in Iraq.
"We would have caused a disruption to Mr Burns and his staff, but that in no way compares to what is happening to the people of Iraq."
Mr Burns said that details of how to occupy an office to attract maximum publicity had been listed on a website. Closing the surgery was not cowardly, he said.
Published Friday, April 11, 2003
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