THIS year's Edward Thompson Memorial Lecture proved so successful that staff at Worcester's Guildhall had to turn people away on safety grounds.

The building can only accommodate around 200 people so many were left disappointed that they were unable to hear Professor Paul Roger, from the University of Bradford's peace studies department, give the lecture entitled "The War on Terror and the new American Century".

"We were very pleased that the peace issue attracted such an interest," said Peter Nielson, from the Friends of E P Thompson, who organised the event on Friday, April 30.

Edward Thompson, who died 10 years ago, lived in Rushwick and was a world-respected author, historian, poet and peace campaigner who also co-founded what would become the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).