THE PROCESS of erecting a ring of steel around Gleneagles Hotel and its grounds ahead of the G8 Summit got under way yesterday.

The Courier took the first pictures of work being carried out which will put in place a five-kilometre security fence around the hotel.

The fence, which will act as the outer cordon for the July summit, will be manned by uniformed police officers supported by rapid reaction units patrolling on a new road running around the inside of the fence.

A police spokesperson has said “it wouldn’t be realistic to try to control an area like that just with police officers.”

Protest group G8 Alternatives has criticised the move, claiming the police are creating an exclusion zone.