By Jack McKeown

VIOLENCE RAGED on the streets of Auchterarder yesterday as radical protest groups launched an all-out assault on police during the G8 protest march.

Sections of steel fence were hauled down and turned into weapons by protesters, sticks rained down on police and anarchists hurled themselves into riot lines.

Police twice charged protesters with batons.

The march began soon after 2 pm and continued peacefully for more than an hour until protesters reached a sharp bend at the top of Orchil Road. The march route swept round to the right and the way ahead was blocked by a double-layer steel fence with police behind it.

Around 3.45 pm a group of protesters went for the fence and began to rattle it. Bottles and sticks were hurled as riot police raced forward to hold the fence, which had buckled badly.

When the helicopter carrying US President George Bush flew overhead shortly afterwards, the crowd became frenzied and the anarchists redoubled their assault on the fence, with police jabbing at their hands with batons to discourage them.

A police photographer standing on a wall was hit by an egg flung from the crowd. He stood down and all the police on the protesters’ side scrambled over a wall and into a nearby garden as the tension level rose visibly.

Demonstrators maintained their offensive on the fence and shortly after 4pm a section was breached.

Police in full riot gear, backed up by mounted officers, moved in immediately and shored up the gap.

In an attempt to defuse the situation, march stewards directed people to continue on the scheduled route.

The anarchists held firm and a brief stand-off ensued, with a lone Scottish protester attempting to talk the anarchists, many of whom were foreign, out of a violent course of action.

He was pushed aside and the protesters flung themselves at the police lines.

Anarchists dressed in black with their faces covered charged the police and broke in a wave against their riot shields.

Rioters urged the crowd—most of whom continued to march peacefully—to help them battle police.

Some attacked with sticks while others yanked at the rest of the steel fence. It came crashing down and a large section was grabbed by protesters, who brandished it before slamming it into police lines.

Smaller pieces of the fence were hurled over the top on to the heads of the riot police.

Regular police armed with batons raced in from the side and began to battle with protesters as the wall of riot officers pressed forward.

Several anarchists were arrested and the rest driven back. March organisers then bravely linked arms and formed a human chain between police and demonstrators in an attempt to prevent further escalation.

Protesters edged forward however, and the police charged a second time, with riot officers forcing the crowd further back. A second line of regular police was formed, creating a double cordon.

Most of the hard-core anarchists appeared to have either been arrested, fled, or joined a melee in a nearby field, where around 1500 demonstrators were massed around the outer cordon.

At around 5 pm a police spokesman used a megaphone to announce that the march would be allowed to continue—despite G8 Alternatives stewards calling for marchers to turn back.

The spokesman called for protesters to show calm.