Don't lead us into a war - that's the plea being made to Prime Minister Tony Blair by an eight-year-old boy from Burley-in-Wharfedale this week.

Burley & Woodhead C of E Primary School pupil Nicholas Lockyer has been so worried about an impending US and UK led conflict with Iraq that he decided to take direct action.

In his letter to 10 Downing Street, Nicholas urges Mr Blair not to kill people - and to advise President George Bush to 'call off' the threatened military action.

It reads:

Dear Tony Blair,

I don't think we should have a war with Iraq because there are lives at danger. So if I were you, I would call the war off because the Tony Blair that I know would never do this and kill people by sending British troops into Iraq.

The saddest thing that I might do is cry because of all the people that had died because of all those troops that had been sent in.

I would tell George Bush about what might happen to everything, and if you succeed in calling the war off please tell me.

Yours Sincerely,

Nicholas Lockyer

According to his mum and dad, Susan and David, Nicholas started working on the letter on his computer after coming home from school one day.

Mrs Lockyer said: "Nick just sat down and wrote it without a word to anyone, it was completely his own idea. But when we found out what he was doing we of course supported him, and his dad helped out with some of the spelling.

"It might not be in the best language but it is in his honest, eight-year-old, childlike language, and I hope Tony Blair listens.

"It would be nice to think that once in a while somebody in power does listen to us, because I think a lot of people in the country are worried and don't think they're views are being heard at the moment.

"Nick has been listening to all the coverage of the war and he feels very strongly about it - his writing the letter highlights how it is affecting everyone, including young children.

"But it was his older brother, Richard, who took on the 'PR' side of things and suggested sending out copies of the letter to several newspapers.

"Nick sent it off to Tony Blair a week ago but we haven't had a reply as yet."

Judging by recent opinion polls the letter's sentiments are shared by many people around the country, including Ilkley MP Ann Cryer, who has been openly critical of the push for war.

Hearing of Nicholas's anti-war effort, a spokesman for the MP said: "Mrs Cryer has received a very large mail bag on the question of Iraq, of which 100 per cent have all been against going to war.

"Never before have we seen such a mailbag so solidly in favour of one view. This is the overwhelming view we are hearing, not from political people but from normal everyday people.

"We have had letters from every age group - old, young and middle aged. It is everybody who is concerned about this."