A DEMONSTRATION against last weekend’s bombing of Syria was held by the West Somerset Inter Cultural Friendship Group yesterday.

They displayed placards in Wellington Square, Minehead, calling for restraint and the need for a negotiated settlement to the conflict led by the United Nations – and nearly 100 signatures were collected in two hours.

Peter Stevenson, who organised the protest, said: “The use of chemical weapons in Syria is an appalling act but we don’t improve the situation by bombing chemical factories.

“Apart from the alarming environmental damage this could do, it is likely to provoke appalling retaliations.

“However difficult it may appear to be, negotiations are always the best way to proceed.”