Massive security measures are in place in Brighton to protect the Labour Party conference from the dual threats of international terrorism and anarchist demonstrators.
Senior police officers say the highest threat to the conference came from Irish terrorists rather than those who led the recent attacks on America.
In a police operation codenamed ‘Operation Otter’, a security cordon is being thrown around the Brighton Centre, where the conference opens today.
A five-mile air exclusion zone has been set up over Brighton and armed police and bomb disposal squads are on duty in the city.
Strict security is also in place in and around the hotels where Labour MPs and conference delegates will be staying, including The Grand, which was devastated by an IRA bomb in 1986.
Workmen were erecting hundreds of metres of steel fencing along Brighton's streets while armed police began checking all visitors entering and leaving the Brighton Centre. Protective metal fencing is also being put up around public monuments and statues.
Up to 10,000 people are expected to march on the conference centre in a protest organised by anti-globalisation group Globalise Resistance.
The Green Party say part of the demonstration would also be aimed at President George Bush's declared war on terrorism.
Police also fear hard-line anarchist groups may also use the protest as an excuse to launch violent clashes.
PA