Costing of policing G8 defended

The police operation alone cost upwards of £2m

Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett has defended the cost of the police operation for the G8 summit.

She said the conference, at Breadsall Priory near Derby, was a great success and reflected well on Derbyshire.

Twelve environmental protesters were arrested in Derby for public order offences on the first day of the event.

Around 1,000 officers were drafted in from across the country to police the conference. The police operation alone cost upwards of £2m.

About 100 demonstrators gathered in Derby city centre on Thursday to raise awareness of Africa's need for water.

Dozens staged a "go-slow" bike ride through the city streets and some were arrested for ignoring orders against public protests, but a meeting later in the city's Market Square passed off peacefully.

Derbyshire Police said the summit is the biggest operation the force has had to deal with since the miners' strike.

Mrs Beckett, MP for Derby South, insisted the cost of policing the event had been justified.

She said: "The reason that there were so few problems was that the police made it clear that there would be a level of policing that meant such problems would be dealt with.

"So if you were thinking of coming here to wreck Derby city centre and you realised that, actually, it wasn't going to be as easy as that, then probably you wouldn't spend the train fare to come."