Police have arrested 30 people following violent clashes with anti-poverty protesters in the centre of Edinburgh today.
A small number of police officers and protesters were treated for minor injuries in hospital less than 48 hours ahead of the G8 summit in the city.
Senior officers condemned organisers of today's anti-G8 "carnival", saying that some of those involved had been bent on causing disruption.
Police officers had stones, staves, bottles and bits of park benches thrown at them. During the day the number of protesters swelled to over 1,000, police said. They included hard-core activists from across Europe, some of whom were held in what police said were "key" arrests.
A police spokesman said: "Their agenda was not lawful protest, this was about bringing disruption. "We have been experiencing spontaneous outbreaks of disorder around the Princes Street area of the city.
There was a huge police presence throughout the day, particularly around Princes Street. Around 1,000 officers were involved. At one point 30 police vans were stationed off Princes Street.
Officers employed tactics similar to those used during May Day protests in London, temporarily cordoning off pockets off the city centre and isolating groups of protesters from each other.
In Rose Street around 250 people threw projectiles and large wire container trolleys at riot police and mounted police who occasionally charged the crowd.
Just to the rear of Jenners department store some protesters dislodged paving slabs which they used to throw at the officers.
Scotland's justice minister Cathy Jamieson said: "We are clearly concerned that some areas of Edinburgh city centre have faced significant disruption today.
Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised nations meet amid tight security from Wednesday to Friday at the nearby Gleneagles Hotel, tasked with tackling African poverty and devising a strategy against global warming.
Earlier, hundreds of campaigners gathered outside the Faslane nuclear base on the Clyde at 7am in protest at the amount of money spent by G8 countries on weaponry.
Faslane is the largest military base in Scotland and home to the Trident nuclear submarines. Today's protest is the eighth sit-down blockade of the base since 2000.
Scotland is also playing host to some big-name supporters of the growing calls for an end to global poverty, with the arrival of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Airlines' Long Walk to Justice flight at Edinburgh Airport.
Mr Branson touched down in Scotland accompanied by a plane full of international campaigners ahead of the G8 Summit. He was accompanied on the flight by pop star Natalie Imbruglia and was met on the tarmac by comedian Eddie Izzard and musician and poverty campaigner Midge Ure.
Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney are also among those rumoured to descend upon Edinburgh at some point this week.
The moves are in response to Bob Geldof's plea for a million people to march on the Scottish capital during this week's gathering of world leaders.
It comes in the wake of 225,000 people turning out in Edinburgh on Saturday, in Scotland's biggest demonstration, to call for action on world poverty.