Battle lines drawn for Gleneagles siege

• Police to limit Gleneagles protest to 5000 as G8 leaders fly in for summit

• Protesters vow to close down summit by blockading hotel

• Local town centre closed for two hours following hoax bomb threat

Key quote

"We want to allow the peaceful protest of the majority to take place unhindered by any rogue elements who are set on disruption and confrontation. We will not flinch where we encounter such behaviour and will deal with it in a robust and measured way" - John Vine, Chief Constable Tayside constabulary

Story in full POLICE and protesters are today preparing themselves for a major confrontation outside Gleneagles as the world's leaders fly in for the start of the G8 summit.

As the authorities stepped up security levels in the normally sleepy town of Auchterarder - just a few miles from the Gleneagles resort - demonstrators vowed to put the leaders under siege when they arrive.

Police insisted they would not allow more than 5,000 people to march past the five-star hotel but protesters insisted they had been given permission for thousands more to take part - raising fears of a repeat of the violent scenes which took place in Edinburgh.

At an "eco-camp" outside Stirling, activists were observed rehearsing tactics for taking on riot police, with one group of demonstrators playing the role of officers while others attempted to overcome them.

"We will be mounting blockades with the aim of closing down the G8 summit and even the G8 itself," a veteran protester called Mark said outside.

Inside the camp there was a confrontational air. The Scotsman's attempt to interview camp members was refused and bottles were thrown at a journalist and photographer as they departed.

Tension also built in Auchterarder with the town's main street closed for two hours following a hoax bomb scare at a Bank of Scotland branch.

About 3,000 officers from around Britain are in the area. Many back roads have been closed and police are checking suspicious cars alongside the main highway.

Helicopters kept watch from the air but yesterday, for the first time, police admitted that they were not confident of preventing the demonstrators from breaching the five-mile steel- mesh fence around Gleneagles, which is dotted with plywood-faced watchtowers and CCTV cameras. Instead they argued that it might only give them a breathing space to regroup to repel any incursions.

"We have never said that the fence is going to be totally secure," said Tayside Chief Constable John Vine. "What it will give us is time to react."

Any protesters who do breach the police lines will find that commanders are prepared for serious trouble: officers armed with sub-machineguns and pistols were yesterday gathering inside the cordon. Groups of officers from a number of forces, including the Northern Constabulary, were on standby away from the public gaze.

It also emerged yesterday that an entire wing of Perth prison has been cleared in preparation for a mass arrest of G8 demonstrators.

Youth groups, peace protesters, anti-capitalists, anarchists, anti-globalisation campaigners and environmental activists are among groups determined to disrupt the three-day summit of the Group of Eight industrialised nations.

Police are anxious that the number of protesters is capped at 5,000, but with so many disparate groups determined to take part in the event - organised by the G8 Alternatives group - the numbers may be much greater. Aamer Anwar, solicitor for the G8 Alternatives group, agreed, saying he expected "thousands" more than the previously agreed figure.

Furious members of the G8 Alternatives group accused senior police officers of reneging on what they insisted was a deal to allow an unlimited number of protesters. But police were equally adamant that the protesters would be restricted to the 5,000 figure agreed after months of wrangling. Aside from the numerical limit, police say the noon march must finish by 4pm.

Mr Vine denied G8 Alternatives' claims that a new deal had been struck: "That is not a version of events that I recognise," he said.

The scene for confrontation was set when police warned that the infrastructure around Gleneagles and neighbouring Auchterarder could not support a protest in excess of the agreed numbers and that others who attempted to join in would be prevented from doing so. Senior officers also made it clear that the presence of any of the protesters who fought with officers in Edinburgh would be dealt with "robustly".

Demonstrators appeared to be undeterred by the police warnings. Yesterday they continued to pour into the eco-camp outside Stirling. By mid-afternoon, numbers had swelled to an estimated 3,500, with more expected to arrive overnight. Mr Vine refused to speculate on the turnout, save to say he expected "thousands" more than the 5,000 figure.

Mr Vine insisted that the intention was to police the march "in an approachable and good-humoured manner".

But he added: "We want to allow the peaceful protest of the majority to take place unhindered by any rogue elements who are set on disruption and confrontation. We will not flinch where we encounter such behaviour and will deal with it in a robust and measured way."

People living in Auchterarder and along the route of today's march yesterday had a mixed view of how things would go. Peter Saffery, whose house in East Hill Road overlooks the point at which the march will come closest to the security fence, said his five children were looking forward to it.

"We'll be staying here. The kids think it is quite exciting - but I hope not too exciting," he said. "I'm pleased it is an organised march, albeit there is always that unknown quantity, and the police have been great in keeping us informed."

He said police had assured him that there would be a line of officers along the front of his garden, which looks on to the fence across a large cornfield and another field in which horses are grazing.

Pensioner Jessie Roy and three friends, caught on the wrong side of the road closure for much of the morning, were unable to get home so they stopped to have sandwiches and coffee on a bench outside the community's school. Ms Roy wondered where the demonstrators expected today would march.

Further back towards Auchterarder, in Tullibardine Road, resident Ian Garrie said he was confident that the police would "look after them" despite Monday's incidents, although he said the women were more concerned than the men.

"I think we all got a bit of a fright when we saw them [the demonstrators] in Edinburgh," he said, adding that he hoped the police would restrict the number of marchers to the agreed figure.

"I don't know what would happen if a lot more came. Maybe they will put them back on their buses and send them away again," he said.

The weather appears to be as unpredictable as the numbers attending the march. Forecasters said the day would start dry and bright, but with the prospect of showers in the afternoon. Demonstrators hoping that the sound of their protest would carry over the fence into the summit itself are likely to be disappointed, however, with light winds from the north-east set to carry the noise away from the hotel.