Batons drawn in the battle of Princes Street

• Anti-G8 protest in Edinburgh leaves 30 people injured, 90 arrested

• Police cordon off protestors as they attempt to enter city's financial district

• Hard-core anarchists arrived from across Europe to participate

Key quote

"I think the police in this country are very well trained and organised. If this happened in Italy or Spain, they [police] would have had the weapons out and it would have been very violent" - Daniel Rico, 27, protester from Spain

Story in full HUNDREDS of anarchists brought Edinburgh city centre to a standstill yesterday as they repeatedly clashed with riot police on the eve of the G8 summit in Gleneagles.

Bands of activists from across Europe armed themselves with stones and staves, bottles and bits of ripped-up park benches to attack police as they targeted the city's financial centre and Princes Street.

Lothian and Borders Police urged shops and offices to shut as they moved to contain the demonstrators.

The day of violence left 30 people needing treatment for injuries, including some with broken bones. Two police officers were taken to hospital with injuries but later released.

By 11:30pm last night, police said 90 people had been arrested, many of them foreign nationals, including French, German, Spanish and Danish. However, police said Scots and English arrests were also made.

Hotspots of activity continued into the late evening, but protesters were dispersing and streets were beginning to reopen to traffic.

While the clashes looked appalling, they were not on the scale of Seattle or Genoa. There were reports of some broken windows and vandalism as anarchists made weapons for use against the police, but total damage was light.

The relative success was attributed to resolute but measured policing, utilising divide-and-rule tactics which resulted in pockets of protesters being contained within specific areas of the city centre.

Police last night condemned those behind the so-called Carnival for Full Enjoyment, saying it had been carefully organised and that some of those involved had been bent on causing disruption.

Yesterday's clashes occurred during a series of flashpoint incidents in Canning Street, Princes Street, George Street and Rose Street. They began soon after noon, when demonstrators gathered at the west end of Princes Street under the banner of the Carnival for Full Enjoyment, organised by an alliance of anarchist groups wishing to highlight messages which they described as anti-war and "anti-wage slavery".

The protesters were prevented by the heavy police presence from reaching the city's main financial district and were diverted into Canning Street.

A stand-off began, during which there were occasional scuffles as some protesters tried to break through the police cordon that surrounded them. One black-clad protester managed to scale a 25ft wall overlooking the street, brandished a black flag and attempted to urinate on police officers.

Anarchists succeeded in causing major disruption as Princes Street was shut to traffic. The police were forced to advise businesses in the city centre to close and most of the shops in Princes Street, including Boots, Next, Gap and Ann Summers, were shut by early afternoon.

Martin Currie, the financial fund managers firm, had three bricks thrown through the windows of its Canning Street offices.

Shortly after 1pm another 200 demonstrators appeared in the west end of George Street and Charlotte Square. Police charged, sending the protesters down Princes Street, where the most serious violence took place.

Police pushed protesters off the street and into Princes Street Gardens but when they attempted to arrest one man, they were attacked with blocks of wood and pelted with flowers ripped from the gardens.

In the early evening, the protests grew more violent, with scores of demonstrators ripping up cobbles in Rose Street and throwing them at police lines.

It appeared the anarchists had been joined by locals intent on causing trouble. Television pictures even showed a boy openly hurling missiles at the line of police. Tom Halpin, the assistant chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police, strongly criticised the protesters. "This is not about protest," he said. "This is unacceptable and irresponsible behaviour.

"We are facing a hardcore of determined activists supported by hangers-on. Large numbers having been facing up to the police. They are clearly organised and co-ordinated. We have recovered maps, radios and mobile telephones."

Mr Halpin said many ringleaders were under arrest last night.

"Weapons including stones, staves and other light missiles have been thrown at police officers," he added.

"There is evidence of weapons being brought into the city centre by protesters, despite their apparent outward display of good humour."

Last night, one protester supported the police action. Daniel Rico, 27, from Spain, said he believed the police had shown restraint and said the situation could have erupted into mass violence. "I think the police in this country are very well trained and organised," he said. "If this happened in Italy or Spain, they [police] would have had the weapons out and it would have been very violent."

But the police were also accused of heavy-handedness, as Edinburgh residents became trapped by anti-riot officers outside Bhs on Princes Street. Eyewitnesses reported hysterical children and a pregnant woman weeping as they were forced to wait until police let them through the mayhem.

Green MSP Mark Ballard, who was caught up in the confrontations in Princes Street Gardens, said police seemed to be inflaming the situation by letting innocent bystanders wander into the areas of trouble, then not letting them exit.

Organisers of Saturday's successful 225,000-people Make Poverty History march said that yesterday's events should not be allowed to overshadow the issues at the heart of the G8 summit.