A campaigner comes face-to-face with police Scores of Thames Valley Police officers are heading to Edinburgh to assist with the policing of the G8 summit.

A total of 170 specialist officers from the Thames Valley area will join up with officers from across the country to form a combined temporary police unit of more than 10,500.

Thames Valley Police units headed north include dog teams, firearms officers, protest removal specialists, automatic number plate recognition units and officers trained in search techniques.

One armed response vehicle, manned by two officers, is also in the Edinburgh-bound convoy.

A spokesman from Thames Valley Police insisted the deployment of officers would not leave a hole in the area's ability to tackle crime. He was unable to say how many of the force's officers were from Oxfordshire.

The spokesman said: "We were asked by the G8 to supply a certain number of specialists to use as they see fit. "We have got more than enough officers here to deal with crime and even if there was a major incident these specialist units have more officers than they need."

"There are a total of 4,600 officers in the Thames Valley Police force, so this is a very small percentage."

Tens of thousands of people are taking part in marches through Edinburgh to put pressure on the leaders of the world's eight largest economies to end poverty at a summit in Gleneagles on Wednesday.

Police have assembled a huge fence around Gleneagles in anticipation of a violent rerun of anarchist protests which have disrupted previous G8 summits.

People living and working inside the inner security cordon are expected to carry identification and police roadblocks will be on the outer cordon.

It is estimated that the bill for the security opertation could reach £100m.

Scottish police have planned for several major events in the past such as the Scottish Labour Party conference.

Giant posters in support of the Make Poverty History campaign have been unfurled over churches in the city.

A team of 25 cyclists from Oxford, who arrived in Edinburgh on Friday after setting off for the city on June 24, will be among those taking part in marches.