PRIME Minister Tony Blair acted unlawfully in the war against Iraq according to Malmesbury vicar the Rev Sydney Hinkes.

A letter handed to Swindon Police on Friday by Mr Hinkes and other members of Swindon Stop the War Coalition demanded Mr Blair be arrested for breaching international law.

It was part of a national campaign organised by Legal Action Against War who handed a similar letter to New Scotland Yard in London.

Second World War veteran Mr Hinkes, 78, said: "This action has taken place all over the country, the main point being to highlight the fact that the war against Iraq is against international law.

"Iraq is a member of the UN and members of the UN are not allowed to attack each other unless in self defence."

Mr Hinkes said that Mr Blair had tried to defend the war by searching for weapons of mass destruction.

But since such weapons have never been found Mr Blair has defended his actions on the grounds that the war was successful in toppling Saddam Hussain, said Mr Hinkes.

"It is not allowed for a country to take the initiative of war against another country because of the quality of its regime," he said.

Mr Hinkes moved to Malmesbury in 1992 after retiring as vicar of a parish in Oxford.