POLICE throughout Scotland are bracing themselves for the country’s biggest security operation when the G8 summit comes to Gleneagles in Perthshire next year.

British officials confirmed the hotel, where suites cost £1,500 a night, as the venue for next June’s summit at the end of this year’s meeting in Sea Island, Georgia.

A team of Scottish police officers has been in Georgia this week studying the security operation. It is understood that leave for all officers in the eight Scottish police forces will be cancelled during the period of the summit. At least 10,000 officers will be required, and the police force in Tayside has asked for assistance from every other force in the country.

In Georgia this week security has been so tight that US federal agents and secret servicemen even hovered over the chefs to ensure that no attempt was made to poison the leaders’ food. It may all come as a shock for the 6,000 people who live in Auchterarder, the town that nestles beside Gleneagles. Until now it has been best known as the former centre of the Perthshire weaving industry. It is known as the lang toon, or long town, because of its High Street, which measures 1½ miles. It now concentrates on attracting tourists exploring the Perthshire countryside. The 270-bedroom Gleneagles Hotel itself is known for its sumptuous accommodation, golf courses and award-winning restaurants. The late comedian and golfer Bob Hope once s aid that if Gleneagles could also offer Californian-style weather, he would move there. Next summer the vagaries of the Scottish weather will be the last thing on the minds of the police officers responsible for protecting eight of the most important political leaders in the world.

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