Cornwall G7: Police confirm four demonstration sites

Devon and Cornwall Police has said there will be four approved sites for protests when the G7 summit is held.

It added the force was "not naive enough" to expect all protests to take place on the sites when the summit of world leaders is held near St Ives.

However, if there are violent protests officers "would be able to deal with that", the force added.

Police will be supported by 5,000 extra officers from other forces when the summit takes place from 11-13 June.

The UK, US, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan make up the G7, and leaders from Australia, India, South Korea and the EU will also attend.

The four protest sites are Plymouth Hoe, Flowerpot playing field in Exeter, Church Street car park in Falmouth and Lemon Quay in Truro.

Supt Jo Hall said the emphasis would be on a proportionate response to protests.

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The last time the world leaders met, in Biarritz in 2019, the French police used tear gas during violent protests in nearby Bayonne.

Police in Devon and Cornwall are hoping those scenes will not be repeated in St Ives in six weeks' time.

Those planning peaceful action say they need to be near Carbis Bay for their concerns about climate change to be heard by the world leaders, but officers are hoping that some of the hundreds of protesters expected might gather at one of the approved protest sites and ease pressure on the (very) small streets of West Cornwall.

G7 protests can be peaceful, as we saw the last time the meeting was held in the UK in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland in 2013.

Devon and Cornwall currently has the second lowest crime rate in England and Wales and officers in the two counties don't get many opportunities to gain public order experience in their own patch, but they are regularly called to help deal with large gatherings in other force areas, most recently in the case of the Kill the Bill protests in Bristol last month.

Richard Ecclestone, of campaign group Extinction Rebellion, said: "We were a little concerned to hear that their idea of facilitating protest might be in places as far away as Exeter and Plymouth.

"Clearly the G7 leaders are not going to hear us if we are there."

Supt Ryan Doyle said: "We are not naive enough to expect that every protest will take place solely in those four sites.

"However, we will encourage people to protest on those sites and we are engaging with protest groups because it enables us to deliver safe policing."

Cornwall Council urged protest organisers to contact the authority for advice and guidance on how to protest safely and respectfully.

Police said anyone organising a demonstration was required by law to write to them six days beforehand.

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