Town prepares for Bush visit

Police make a final search of Sedgefield

Protesters were making last-minute plans for a "colourful" demonstration in Tony Blair's County Durham constituency for the visit of US President George Bush.

Anti-war activists were planning to converge on the village of Sedgefield, where it is expected the two leaders will have lunch on Friday.

Banners and poster are already visible in the town as people from the area and elsewhere in the region prepared to make their views known.

Hundreds were expected to arrive from as far afield as Yorkshire and Scotland to show their opposition to American foreign policy.

A spokesman for the Stop the War coalition in the North-East said: "We are hoping it's going to be quite colourful.

"It is to let Bush know that people are there and put our views across to him in whatever way we can.

"There is not a grand plan apart from to get people over there and hopefully out of the crowd some ideas will arise."

Buildings and streets in Sedgefield are being searched

The town, at the heart of the parliamentary constituency of the same name, will effectively close down ahead of the presidential visit.

Vehicle owners have been told they must move cars parked on streets across Sedgefield by 2000 GMT on Thursday or they face being towed away.

From 0800 GMT on Friday the same roads are to be closed completely to traffic and the nearby village of Trimdon Colliery, where Mr Blair has his constituency home, has also been affected by the traffic measures.

A number of main roads nearby are also to be affected by closures at varying times during the visit but for security reasons police would not specify when these would be.

A spokesman for Durham Police, which is spending £1m on security for the visit, said: "Vehicles parked on private driveways are not affected by the restrictions, but police have warned any vehicles left parked on the designated roads after 2000 GMTon Thursday will be removed - and the owners will have to bear the cost.

"A lot of people are going to be put out by this on Friday but unfortunately there is nothing that we can do."

Squads of plain-clothed and uniformed police have been visiting the village this week and particular attention has been paid to the Dun Cow Inn where it has been rumoured that Mr Blair and Mr Bush would eat.

Communities inconvenienced

The overall police operation involves 1,300 officers. All leave across the force has been cancelled.

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Barnett has written to residents and business communities promising to keep disruption to a minimum and said where possible limited access would be given to allow people in and out of their homes.

Mr Barnett said: "The decision to impose these restrictions has not been taken lightly, given the inconvenience communities will face.

"However, your safety is of prime consideration and these measures are necessary to secure the event."

The roads to be shut down in Sedgefield are: Stockton Road, Lille Gardens, Malton Terrace, Front Street, High Street, Rectory Row, Cross Street, East End, and Butterwick Road. In Trimdon Colliery Luke Street and Rodwell Street face closure.

Roads affected by closures at varying times are: the B1278 from Fishburn to Wingate Lodge via Trimdon village; the C38 in and around Fishburn; the A177 from Coxhoe to Sedgefield; the A689 from the Bradbury Interchange to Wolviston; and Butterwick Road to the A689.