UNPRECEDENTED tight security combined with torrential rain prevented unrest from anti-war demonstrators disrupting the start of Labour's conference in Brighton yesterday.

Seven were arrested during scuffles as police "snatch squads" plucked potential troublemakers from the crowd of demonstrators gathering to march on the conference centre.

However the 4,000-strong protest was largely peaceful. Activist Jonathan Neal said that although he had been "gassed and beaten" on the streets during the Genoa riots, now was not the time for civil disobedience.

Dozens of police lined the route of the march, police horse units were arrayed along the Brighton sea front, and the side streets were filled with police riot vans.

The heightened alert after the US terror attacks has seen a huge police presence brought to the south coast resort.

Eight hundred police are on duty in and around the Brighton Centre, while a five-mile air exclusion zone is among the measures put in place to help guard against possible terror attacks.

Steel barriers have been built into the roads and pavements to stop hijacked vehicles ramming the conference centre and the city's main hotels, while RAF fighter planes are also on standby to protect the airspace over the town.

For the first time, police have been issued with pepper spray to use on protestors.

Despite these measures, the main deterrent to any major protests so far appears to have been the weather - lashing rain brought in over a stormy sea by high winds.

Chief Inspector Robin Smith said: "Today was a success and a large part of that was down to the protestors, who behaved in a very orderly way."

Shadow of war - Page 2