JAMES KIRKUP
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

SCOTTISH ministers are to get unprecedented new powers to close roads as part of the security build-up before the G8 summit in Gleneagles this summer.

The ability to issue anti- terrorist traffic regulation orders (ATTROs) will mark the first time the Scottish Executive has been able to exercise control over areas of security policy. Normally, counter-terrorism and security matters are reserved to the Westminster parliament.

The change in the law, which was approved by the Scottish Parliament earlier this month and by MPs at Westminster on Thursday, raises the prospect of widespread road closures across Central Scotland.

Anne McGuire, the Scotland Office Minister, told MPs that the powers "will be exercised in relation to avoiding or reducing the likelihood of any terrorist threat."

The Gleneagles summit, from 6 to 8 July, will bring together the leaders of the eight major industrialised nations - Britain, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia.

While security for such meetings is always high, the presence of George Bush, the US president, suggests there could be major disruption to everyday life for anyone in the area around Gleneagles, or even miles away. That was certainly the case when Mr Bush was in Belgium and Germany earlier this week.

In Scotland, police chiefs insist there is little prospect of major road closures, but the new powers may heighten concern about the impact of the summit.

Ministers are wary of antagonising local people afraid of major inconvenience around the Gleneagles area. There have already been complaints and, as The Scotsman revealed earlier this month, farmers in the area have been warned they can expect no compensation for any damage caused to their land by the major protests that the summit is expected to attract.

While issuing ATTROs will need the approval of Alistair Darling, the Scottish Secretary, responsibility for instigating the orders will rest with Holyrood.

"The government have agreed with the Scottish Executive that functions to regulate or control a road in the case of a terrorist threat should be exercised by Scottish ministers," Mrs McGuire said. "We believe that that is sensible, as Scottish ministers already have responsibility for general road transport policy in Scotland."