Protesters pelt Blair

A rotten tomato reached its prime ministerial target

Tony Blair has been pelted with rotten fruit by protesters as he was preparing to deliver a keynote speech laying out the ground on which Labour is expected to fight the next election.

The prime minister was opening a new further education college campus in Bristol when he was hit on the back with a tomato.

Other fruit, including oranges, were thrown by a small group demonstrating against Britain's policy towards Iraq - but Mr Blair avoided being struck by anything else.

Some of the 20 or so protesters who tried to surge towards him were held back by police, quickly reinforced by officers on horseback.

Smiling through

Elsewhere police also stopped a group of farmers including David Handley, from Farmers For Action and one of the leaders of last year's fuel blockades, from staging a protest.

Around a dozen tractors and lorries were halted a short distance from the city council offices, where Mr Blair was due to deliver his speech.

He took no notice of the fruit-throwing incident and kept smiling as he was swiftly ushered into the City of Bristol College.

But inside, another woman protester shouted at him from just a few feet. "How many Iraqi children have you killed?" she said.

She was restrained by college security officers.

Protest banners

The demonstrators, holding banners with slogans including "Cut the war tax" and "People are more important than oil", were protesting about United Nations sanctions against Saddam Hussein's regime following the Gulf war.

It is Mr Blair's first campaigning trip of the new year, designed to focus both on education and the importance of investment in other public services.

With the tomato brushed off the back shoulder of his dark suit, the prime minister went on to meet some of the college students inside the building before performing a brief formal opening ceremony.

As he left he smiled and waved at a small group of cheering onlookers - although a large stain on the back right shoulder of his jacket was visible.