PEACE campaigners are demanding to meet the chief executive of Bolton Council for an explanation why they were banned from using a public meeting room.

Members of the Bolton Stop the War Coalition claim they were "gagged" by the council when it cancelled their booking of the Central Library lecture theatre at Le Mans Crescent.

Council chiefs claim they feared agitators could hijack the meeting and inflame tensions.

Members of the anti-war group have now called on chief executive Bernard Knight to meet with a four-man delegation including the group's secretary Malcolm Pittock, a trade unionist and a representative from the Bolton Quaker Peace Group and the town's Muslim community.

Neil McAlister, chairman of the Coalition, described the ban as an insult to the people of Bolton.

He said: "It is important for the future of democracy that people's voices are heard.

"We have held literally dozens of pubic protests without any trouble and discussed the war face-to-face with several thousand people, including many in the armed forces and their families.

"Bolton people are both well informed about the war and tolerant to the views of others."

A number of prominent speakers had been lined up for the meeting, including Labour councillor Mohammed Alli, of Central ward.

After hearing of the Council's decision, Cllr Alli said the Coalition's right to freedom of speech had been "stifled".

The meeting, entitled Iraq -- Liberation or Colonisation? will now be held on Thursday night at the Friends' Meeting House on Silverwell Street at 7.30pm.

Bernard Knight, chief executive at Bolton Council, said: "The Council's position remains the same. If the Coalition thinks the situation has changed, we will look at it at that time."