GARETH EDWARDS AND KATIE EMSLIE

THOUSANDS of protesters took to the streets of the Capital today to urge the world's leaders to Make Poverty History.

People from all over the UK were joining politicians and anti-poverty campaigners for the biggest public demonstration ever to take place in Scotland.

Up to 120,000 people were expected to participate in the march, taking a circular route around the city centre, starting from the Meadows, with protesters dressed in white and carrying placards to form a giant white band, the symbol of the cause.

Richard-Saville Smith, a spokesman for Make Poverty History, said: "There is a great atmosphere here at the Meadows and it is going to be a great day. We have the cranes hoisting up our letters to spell out Make Poverty History, there is a big screen set up to show the Live 8 concert in London, and we have all our speakers ready.

"It is a really friendly, carnival atmosphere, which we always said it would be, and this will be a fun day out for the family with a very serious message."

In advance of today's march, the police presence was visibly stepped up at key locations, such as Waverley Station and the foot of the Royal Mile, where a "ring of steel" encircles the new Scottish Parliament building.

Police said that last night had passed off very peacefully, with no reports of trouble as thousands poured into the Capital.

Chief Constable Paddy Tomkins met Superintendent Terry Powell, the senior police officer covering the Make Poverty History rally, to walk along the route of the march this morning.

Mr Tomkins said: "I wanted to walk the route and speak to all the officers who will be marshalling what will be the biggest demonstration ever to take place in Scotland.

"I hope it will be a great day for everyone participating, and that will be best achieved by everyone respecting Edinburgh and respecting the right of people to demonstrate peacefully."

Speakers at the rally include two Roman Catholic cardinals, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Bianca Jagger, pop star Daniel Bedingfield and actor Peter Postlethwaite. And a message from Pope Benedict will be read out to the gathering.

Chancellor Gordon Brown will be in Edinburgh to address a Christian Aid rally in the evening.

And Scotland's First Minister, Jack McConnell, has chaired a meeting of international parliamentarians discussing debt, aid and trade.

He said: "It would be fantastic if our country was the place where the eight most powerful leaders of the eight richest countries decided once and for all that they were going to act together to make sure that poverty in Africa was history."

By this morning, more than 9000 protesters had arrived at the official campsite at the Jack Kane Centre in Craigmillar, with more campers arriving all the time.

Security sources said that last night passed off relatively peacefully, but some locals had tried to scale the fence at one point.

Two of the youngest protesters to spend the night at the camp were Birmingham schoolgirls Amy and Topaz, both 12. Amy said: "We spent the whole day at school yesterday making a huge banner which was like an enormous Make Poverty History wristband. Lots of our classmates are bringing the banner with us today so we can show the world leaders how strongly we feel."

Amy's mother, Dawn, 39, said: "We are marching to show our commitment against war and poverty. We want them to spend the money they shell out on killing people on saving people instead."

Four Dutch people who had also been to the G8 march in Genoa said they were very excited about the coming event. Jelle Klaas, 25, a lawyer from Amsterdam said: "There is a great atmosphere here in comparison to the other demos. Today we are hoping for a lot of people and a lot of attention."

Naz Massoumi, 25, a recent graduate had travelled up with around 130 fellow students from London. He said: "I think the important thing is that the issue of the war is coming up strongly as well. The world leaders can't hide away from this anymore."

David Anilionis, a 21-year-old student also from London said he had enjoyed a very comfortable night at the Jack Kane Centre: "It was far better than I had expected, I thought it was just going to be a field, but the council has done a very good job, providing showers and stewards and security."

Today's march kicks off a week of protests and festivities surrounding the G8 summit in Gleneagles next week.