Children from a Didcot church gathered with placards behind 19 pairs of shoes a symbolic protest against the burden of Third World debt.

Campaigners at Ladygrove Community Centre said they were highlighting that "every day, 19,000 children die needlessly in the world's poorest countries as

a result of the debt

crisis".

Each pair of shoes represented 1,000 children. The Rev Sister Josie Midwinter, the assistant curate at Ladygrove Church, explained: "Money that could be spent on health care for the poorest communities is instead being spent on neverending interest payments to the world's richest nations."

In October last year, children from church Sunday schools at Didcot sent paper chains to the Prime Minister, urging

him to break the chain of debt.

And at the annual Didcot Street Fair in December, nearly 700 signatures were added to the Jubilee 2000 petition calling for the cancellation of Third World debt. The Didcot group is to send a photo of its shoes protest to Government leaders and decision-makers.