Although the Chief Constable of Tayside Police reassured residents living near Gleneagles that the world is not going to end when the G8 leaders come to town, there will no doubt be fears of riots and protests such as those that brought Genoa and Evian in France to a standstill.

All Scottish police forces will provide officers for the security operation, the biggest in Scottish history.

About 10,000 will be involved in policing the summit, the anti-poverty march in Edinburgh and protests at the Dungavel detention centre and the Faslane nuclear submarine base.

Despite a heavy police presence at previous international summits, protesters have managed to cause mayhem.

In December 1999, Seattle played host to one of the biggest demonstrations since the Vietnam war, when tens of thousands of anti- globalisation protesters attempted to disrupt the World Trade Organisation talks.

The National Guard was drafted in and the Mayor of Seattle was forced to impose a curfew after the protests ended in clashes with riot police.

The 2001 G8 summit in Genoa was nearly overshadowed by the death of Carlo Giuliani, an anti-capitalist demonstrator who was shot dead by Italian police. About 500 other protesters were injured in riots that caused millions of pounds of damage to banks, shops and other businesses.

In 2003, 75,000 anti-globalisation protesters converged on the French-Swiss border as world leaders gathered for the G8 summit in Evian on Lake Geneva. Frustrated by a ten-mile exclusion zone around the venue, the protesters directed their fury at police across the border in Geneva and Lausanne, throwing rocks and petrol bombs and barricading roads.

The police fought back with rubber bullets, teargas and water cannons. Martin Shaw, a protester from Ealing, West London suffered multiple fractures when he fell 20 metres into shallow water after a policeman cut a rope attaching him to a bridge.

Police at the European Union summit in Gothenburg in June 2001 were overwhelmed by the 25,000 protesters who rioted in the Swedish city, causing £40 million worth of damage. Three activists were shot and wounded by the police, including one who lost a kidney. Dozens of police were also injured after demonstrators threw stones and fireworks at them.

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