Anger over G8 road closure plans

The proposals have angered campaigners like Rose Gentle

Anti-G8 protesters are pledging to fight a ban on them marching past the Gleneagles Hotel when world leaders meet there in July.

Tayside Police have said the road is one of those which will be sealed off for the duration of the summit.

Campaigners said proposals to allow a rally in nearby Auchterarder were unacceptable and described the decision as "a disaster for democracy".

The G8 summit will take place at the Gleneagles Hotel from 6 to 8 July.

Police and Perth and Kinross Council said there were no plans to close the A9 during the event.

ROAD CLOSURES A823 from the A9 to the A822 A824 Orchil Road from the A823 to Western Road C464 Muirton Road C467 from A823 to A822 U23 Gleneagles Hotel

A number of minor roads will be closed from 3 to 9 July, although local residents and businesses will have access to the routes.

An exclusion zone will also be created around the summit venue, the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder.

A number of rights of way which cross the golf courses at Gleneagles will also be closed for the duration of the world leaders' summit.

The local authority is working with bus companies to ensure continued provision of local services.

Police said the road closures were a necessary measure

Perth and Kinross Council chief executive Bernadette Malone said: "The early publication of information on the roads and paths which will be affected during the G8 summit is part of the commitment we gave to the local community last year to keep them informed."

Chief Constable John Vine added: "As part of the security operation, we need to close local roads and rights of way that give access to the venue for the summit, Gleneagles Hotel.

"This will be for the minimum period and measures will be in place to maintain the flow of traffic and assist local people."

However, Gill Hubbard of campaign umbrella group G8 Alternatives said that a planned march outside the hotel would go ahead.

"We are not accepting the road blocks," she said.

GLENEAGLES RIGHT OF WAY CLOSURES Path from golf club to Comelyburn Farm Station Road from A9 to A823 at hotel Braco Road via Kirkton to Gleneagles Road, Whitehills

"This is the 21st Century and we are in a democracy, we should be able to take to our own roads in Scotland and march past the hotel and have our voices heard."

Speaking at a media conference outside the hotel, human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar said campaigners were considering a judicial review of the decision.

"This is a disaster for democracy, a recipe for disaster," he said.

"I have real concerns because at the end of the day, there will be several thousand police officers here at Gleneagles, a ring of steel.

"If they have that, why not give the people the right to march?"

Campaigner Rose Gentle, whose soldier son Gordon died in Iraq last year, added: "We are not animals or terrorists - we just want our voices to be heard."