ACTIVISTS using a G8 preliminary meeting as a warm-up to demonstrations in Edinburgh have been warned they will be met by 1000 police forming a "ring of steel".

Officers from 23 UK forces will be on duty in Derby and surrounding villages today as ministers from the eight leading industrial nations gather for the two-day conference.

The operation, which will cost £1 million, is the biggest Derbyshire Police project since the miners' strike of the mid-80s.

Environment Secretary and Derby South MP Margaret Beckett and International Development Secretary Hilary Benn are hosting the event at Breadsall Priory.

The impact of extreme weather on African communities and the environmental threats caused by illegal logging will be discussed at the summit.

Protesters hope to use the meeting as a warm-up for demonstrations at July's main G8 summit at Gleneagles.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke has sanctioned council requests for bans on marches and demonstrations in the Derby area.

The ban was called for after the Dissent protest group offered spoof prizes to anyone who hurls a pie at a G8 minister or plants a skull-and-crossbones flag in the 18th hole of Breadsall's golf course.

Assistant Chief Constable Mick Creedon said: "If there are unlawful protests we are ready for them."