Riot police clashed with protesters close to the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland on Wednesday after a demonstration against Group of Eight (G8) leaders ended in chaos. Around 100 officers in full riot gear mounted a baton charge to drive protesters away from a security fence surrounding the hotel, where U.S. President George W. Bush and his G8 counterparts were due to meet, Reuters reported. Demonstrators from a range of anti-capitalist, anti-globalisation and anarchist groups scattered across a field when the police charged. A handful threw stones at the police. By 1600 GMT, hundreds of protesters were still in the field, facing police, who were reinforced with units flown in by helicopters that rattled the windows of the summit hotel. Officers on horseback were also brought in to restore order. The clashes erupted following an otherwise peaceful march from the small town of Auchterarder in central Scotland to within a few hundred metres (yards) of the nearby hotel. --More 1948 Local Time 1648 GMT
