PEOPLE will be gathering outside Salisbury Library this morning to protest against proposed airstrikes in Syria.

Salisbury Stop the War are holding the 'impromptu' vigil from 11am to noon.

The protest is one of many planned in towns and cities across the country with thousands expected to attend one in London.

On Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron urged MPs to back UK airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria.

In a Stop the War letter to the prime minister, signed by actors, writers and musicians, it says: “The current rush to bomb Syria following the terrible events in Paris risks a dangerous escalation which will inflame the war there and increase bitterness against the west.

"The experience of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya shows that western military interventions lead to large-scale casualties, devastating destruction and huge flows of refugees.

“Far from tackling terrorism, the last 14 years of war have seen massively increased jihadi terrorist organisations around the world.

“Rather than ignoring this recent history by joining the long list of countries that have bombed Syria in the last year, we urge the government to stop arming reactionary and aggressive regimes like Saudi Arabia and Qatar that sponsor terrorist groups and look for political solutions as the only viable way to end the conflict.”

In a written response to the foreign affairs committee published before he addressed MPs, the prime minister said it was "wrong for the United Kingdom to subcontract its security to other countries, and to expect the aircrews of other nations to carry the burdens and the risks of striking Isil in Syria to stop terrorism here in Britain".

He said: "I am in no doubt that it is in our national interest to stop them." And that "after examining his conscience" he had come to the conclusion that air strikes in Syria were the right move.

A vote by MPs is expected within weeks.