AN 82-year-old Richmond man who was thrown out of the Labour Party conference for heckling has received an apology from the Prime Minister.

Veteran activist Walter Wolfgang was manhandled out of his seat after shouting 'nonsense' during a speech by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Iraq. Mr Wolfgang, of Lichfield Court, received the full backing of his local party and a former Labour MP and colleague handed in his membership in protest.

"He is a man of integrity and strong opinions which I think he showed yesterday," said Chris Priest, chairman of the Richmond Park branch.

Police used powers under the Prevention of Terrorism Act to stop Mr Wolfgang as he tried to re-enter the conference venue in Brighton on Wednesday. His pass was confiscated.

The party member of 57 years' standing told the BBC: "I shouted out 'nonsense'. That's all I said. Then these two toughies came round and wanted to manhandle me out.

"I said 'Do you want me to leave? I will leave, you don't need to manhandle me.' Physically, I am not too well, so I said I would follow them.

"Most of the Labour Party stewards are very nice people. One or two people lend themselves to this nonsense.

"It makes me feel that the people who resort to these tactics are very unsure of themselves and they are on the losing side."

Yesterday the Prime Minister was asked whether Mr Wolfgang had his personal apology.

Tony Blair said: "Yes, he does. I'm really sorry about it.

"I wasn't in the conference centre at the time myself. It is difficult, the stewards are volunteers, they are not quite sure how to deal with a situation like that and, of course, you should deal with it differently and I'm really sorry for it and it must have been upsetting for him."

Mr Priest said that for a man of his age, Mr Wolfgang did a 'great deal' for the local party and the causes he believes in, particularly around peace and disarmament.

"I don't always see eye to eye with Walter on matters of policy but we have a good relationship," he said.

"For an elderly man who clearly couldn't pose a physical threat to anyone, the action taken by the security guards was way over the top. As chairman of the local party I strive to give a fair hearing to Walter and other members of the party.

"I am in the process of writing to Walter to tell him that and that I hope he gets the apologies he deserves."

John Lee, a member of the party for 50 years and an MP for nine, who lives in Castelnau Barnes, said he was resigning following Mr Wolfgang's treatment.

"This is the last straw", he said.

Mr Lee, a barrister who has known Mr Wolfgang for 30 years described him as a 'gentle, elderly, scholarly man'. An MP in Reading then Harmondsworth, Birmingham, in the 1970s, Mr Lee said that he had been increasingly dissatisfied with Labour in past few years with Iraq, tuition fees, the widening gap between rich and poor, but this was the final straw.

"I am appalled and disappointed. There should be the right to heckle at conferences.

"I have been on the platform myself when people have shouted, you just have to put up with it and take it. He didn't even shout out a rude word."