Navy patrol ship stationed off St Ives as security ramps up for G7 Summit
6,500 police officers from every force in the country are in Cornwall to safeguard the world leaders' event
Last updated 13th Jun 2021
With just two days to go until the G7 Summit, security is being ramped up across Cornwall.
Leaders from the world's wealthiest nations will gather at Carbis Bay from Friday 11th June.
The first of major travel restrictions have come into force from today (Wednesday 9th June).
They include closures around Cornwall Airport Newquay, including that official 30-mile diversion: Read more.
Security barriers, dubbed a 'Ring of Steel', have appeared in parts of St Ives and Carbis Bay.
Police officers are stationed along the fencing, which flanks homes on some residential streets.
During the summit, there will be military radar equipment on beaches and police on jet-skis
A Royal Navy patrol ship is now stationed in St Ives Bay, patrolling the exclusion zone.
Marine police boats have been spotted in Hayle harbour, as well as other military vehicles at nearby Godrevy.
Some 6,500 police officers and staff from every force in the country are in Cornwall to protect world leaders.
Around 5,000 have been drafted in from across the UK, for what is being described as the biggest security operation in our force's history.
Around 1,000 are being accomodated on board the MS Silja Europa in Falmouth.
Speaking during the early preparations for the summit, Superintendent Jo Hall said they had been planning the operation for months.
"We're used to this sort of planning as the police, our day job is planning, we have hosted big events before so our plans they are not new to us, they are agile, they are scalable so an event this size, it is the biggest policing and security event in England this year so you can imagine the planning behind it is quite complex.
"We will have around 5,000 police officers joining us from mutual aid, that is police officers from around other forces coming to work with us, but to be clear it will be under our command, that is Devon and Cornwall command.
"Over the event itself we will have around 6,500 officers and staff deployed so we will be one of the biggest forces in the UK for that weekend. It is not just police officers or people, there will be police animals as well, we will have 150 police dogs coming down to work with us and we will be policing land, sea and air so lots of staff, lots of resources, a big event to look forward to.
"Those resources will also include a large number of specialist officers including armed police and those who will be working to cover the air and sea aspects of the operation.
"We have got specialist resources in the force anyway, but the officers that are coming in a lot of them will have specialist skills to bolster our own specialist skills and we will be policing land, sea and air so it won't just be police officers that you might see around the streets it will be covering sea and air as well".
Superintendent Jo Hall, Devon & Cornwall Police
You can read more about the security operation on the dedicated G7 Policing Website here.