ANARCHISTS who blockaded streets in Edinburgh during the G8 have claimed their tactics successfully disrupted the Gleneagles summit.

Members of the radical Dissent network staged a number of road blockades in the west of the Capital, as well as an attempted blockade of the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Lothian Road. The incidents on Wednesday, July 6, were only minor compared to the disruption around Stirling, where the M9 and A9 were both shut for hours.

But Dissent believes it tricked the police into flooding Edinburgh with officers, leaving roads nearer Gleneagles easier to target. One insider said:

"The delegation from Japan ended up being delayed an additional half hour, just to get out the hotel.

"The police were mistakenly convinced that Edinburgh would be the focus of the blockades, and sent most of their forces there.

"Entire delegations cancelled their arrivals, or were delayed until the late afternoon."