The first sections of a five-mile security fence went up around the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland yesterday as security preparations began for the G8 summit in July.

Some 10,000 wire mesh panels will be erected to form the barrier to keep anti-capitalist protesters from the delegates. The organisers are anxious to avoid a repeat of the clashes between police and demonstrators that marred the Genoa summit in 2001.

Despite the massive scale of the security operation, the five-star hotel and its grounds, including the golf courses, are expected to run as normal while the fence is being erected.

Group 4 Securicor has been hired to provide a security presence until police take overall control.

The cordon is only part of the huge security strategy surrounding the summit of the most powerful world leaders at Auchterarder, Perthshire.

CCTV systems will also be put in place around Gleneagles and police patrols will be stepped up as the work on the barrier continues.

Willie Bald, assistant chief constable of Tayside police, said: "The fence is one element of the security measures and part of a comprehensive operation which will prevent unauthorised access to the venue. It clearly outlines the secure boundary lines which will be policed and where powers of arrest can be used if anyone attempts to get through the fencing."

Mr Bald said the summit organisers had consulted Scottish Natural Heritage to ensure that the fence created no risk of environmental damage. Landowners had also given permission to allow the cordon to be built. No disruption to local traffic was expected.

The policing bill for the event, which takes place from July 6-8, could be more than £50m.

A similar cordon is expected to be built around the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, which may also be a target of protesters.

Protesters have refused to call off a march past the Gleneagles Hotel, despite being warned that the road will be closed. They have been told by police that the march - which could attract as many as 40,000 people - must be held in a park in Auchterarder, a few miles away.

The protest group G8 Alternatives said last week it would not abandon its original plan. "We are not accepting the roadblocks," a spokeswoman said.

"This is the 21st Century and we are in a democracy, we should be able to take to our own roads in Scotland and march past the hotel and have our voices heard."

Events planned by anti-capitalist and anti-war campaigners to mark the summit include a conference in Edinburgh and a blockade of Faslane nuclear submarine base.