GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN

Key points

• Tayside police intend to roadblock around Gleneagles if necessary
• Police are concerned that arriving protesters will have no focus upon arrival
• Bob Geldof has announced he will be attending Gleneagles

Key quote
"At the moment people are free to turn up. We have always said we will facilitate peaceful protest. But if numbers become too extreme we will have to look at it again. Auchterarder is not big enough to support a large number of people." - TAYSIDE POLICE SPOKESMAN

Story in full DEMONSTRATORS attempting to get to unofficial events around the G8 summit were warned yesterday that the police may use roadblocks to keep them away.

Tayside Police said that they would not allow the area around the summit site to become so congested that public safety was placed at risk.

There are serious concerns about the number of people who may turn up on 6 July, the day on which Bob Geldof's Long Walk to Justice is due to reach Edinburgh.

Police fear that demonstrators who have responded to Geldof's entreaties will find themselves in Edinburgh with no organised events to attend and no focus for their frustrations. The only organised event in Edinburgh on the Wednesday - the start of the summit - is the evening Live 8 concert at Murrayfield, while police say that they can only accommodate about 4,500 people at the G8 Alternatives protest at Gleneagles.

The situation is further complicated by the announcement yesterday that Geldof is planning to make a personal appearance at the G8 summit, an event which could act as a magnet for protesters.

A spokeswoman for Geldof's Long Walk to Justice campaign yesterday confirmed that he would attend Gleneagles between 6 and 8 July.

"We have no idea when and how exactly they will be going and we're currently going through the motions trying to negotiate this. It's not known whether Bob Geldof will be sat round the table discussing poverty with the G8 or indeed, what he will be doing."

She confirmed that permission had been granted for Geldof and the delegates to arrive at Gleneagles.

Police have said that they will try to let demonstrators make their point but yesterday they urged anyone who was not attending an organised event to think again about travelling.

A spokesman for Tayside police said they were aware that people might just turn up at Auchterarder and Gleneagles, but that there was a limit to the number of people that could be accommodated safely.

"At the moment people are free to turn up. We have always said we will facilitate peaceful protest. But if numbers become too extreme we will have to look at it again. Auchterarder is not big enough to support a large number of people."

Police believe that they can accommodate 4,500 people and the spokesman said that if the numbers in the area began to increase, there would be a case for officers blocking roads and stopping any more vehicles entering the area.

"We would turn back vehicles if we had concerns about public safety and traffic," he said. "We would ensure that numbers did not get to the stage where our hand was forced."

He said 6 July was expected to be the busiest day. "There has to be a cut-off point, and there are the 7th and 8th as well if people really want to make the pilgrimage."

Lothian and Borders police also said they would prefer people to attend only organised events and also expressed concerns about the possibility of large numbers turning up on 6 July with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

"Wednesday is an issue," said a spokeswoman. "There has been quite a lot of confusion because it is called the Long Walk to Justice and they may think they are going to walk somewhere when they get here, but they are not."

She said police did not want people turning up outside the Live 8 venue at Murrayfield if they did not have tickets.

"It may be difficult if lots of people turn up," she said. "The problem is the people who may turn up and follow Sir Bob's plan to come to Edinburgh. We don't know who is going to follow that.

"We are concerned that people may come up and have nowhere to stay and nothing to do, and they may be disgruntled, and we are trying to discourage them."

• Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, is to join Geldof for a G8 question and answer session to be broadcast on the music network MTV. The programme will be shown on Friday night.