A PEACE protesting couple from Addingham were told to 'keep up the good work' when they met their inspirational idol Yoko Ono.

The widow of the late former Beatle John lennon invited Andrew and Christine Gale to the first UK screening of a new DVD, Lennon Legend, in London. The invite came in recognition of the couple's 'Love-In' protest against the Iraq War earlier this year.

The Gales stayed in bed all day as a mark of protest, mimicking a similar protest carried out by Lennon and Ono in the 1960s against the Vietnam War.

When they received the invite, the Gales were not sure if they could make it to the event in London, as Mrs Gale suffers from back problems - but despite a few setbacks, nothing could stop them meeting the star.

"She was determined nothing was going to get in her way in meeting the legendary Yoko. Especially after we had been invited, the least we could do was turn up," said Mr Gale.

When the couple finally met Yoko Ono at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Knightsbridge, they took the opportunity to invite her to Yorkshire, and she said she would like to see them again.

To make the journey to London, Mrs Gale had to lie down in the back of their car and take painkillers to ease her back pain.

Mr and Mrs Gale took their place outside the Mayfair Curzon Cinema alongside a queue of journalists and representatives of the music industry.

Mr Gale said there were a few tense moments when they discovered they had forgotten to bring their mobile phone contact number for record company EMI, and had to mingle with other guests, not knowing what to do.

"There were the customary free drinks and food, but we had no appetite or wanted to drink, since in a few minutes we were going to meet Yoko, or was I dreaming and we were going to wake up?" said Mr Gale.

The Gales and the other guests were taken to into the cinema auditorium and given a copy of the DVD, before hearing an introduction from the EMI chairman.

Finally, Yoko Ono took to the stage.

Mr Gale said: "It was one of those moments that I'll always remember, she seemed to be charged with emotion, and with a tear she told us, 'you might find some of the images distressing'. Christine and I just held hands and watched a very moving DVD, we looked over to our left and saw Yoko, knowing we were going to talk to her soon."

Mr Gale said the DVD's previously unreleased footage of John Lennon filled in holes in his life story, and video footage - including pictures of children mutilated by war - proved very moving.

However, the couple said they were upset to see some of the guests continuing to eat the free food when faced with images of hunger and devastation.

Mr and Mrs Gale faced disappointment when they heard Ono had left earlier for another interview. But after speaking to her publicist, the star overheard the conversa-