THE pendulum swung between the forces of anarchy and the forces of order on the first day of Britain's biggest policing operation.

It began with violent raids on houses, banks, shops and other commercial operations in Stirling as anti-capitalists vented spleen on soft targets in early morning raids which appeared to take police by surprise.

Officers were more prepared for the much-vaunted blockades and barricades on all roads leading to Gleneagles, which nonetheless caused disruption to the central Scotland transport network.

At Auchterarder, hours were spent in negotiations between police and G8 Alternatives' organisers before the day's main march went ahead relatively peacefully.

Then it was on to Gleneagles itself and groups of protesters scored an easy success when they ambled through the outer security cordon and across fields towards the summit venue.

But their victory proved pyrrhic. Within an hour riot police, backed by reinforcements f lown in by Chinook helicopters, forced the invaders to retreat once more.

Events kicked off at 2.45am when protesters left the ecovillage besides Stirling Albion's football ground, which has housed 3500 protesters for the past week. Campers claimed a group of people from Bristol had been the instigators.

At Springkerse industrial estate, about a quarter of a mile from the eco-village, businesses were closed after becoming targets of demonstrators.

Burger King was wrecked, its walls daubed with slogans.

APizza Hut was also smashed up and Homebase and PC World had windows broken.

In Bannockburn, residents spoke of their fears of further disorder. At St Ninian's about a mile away, the road was covered in boulders.

By 4pm yesterday nearly every shop in Stirling's main street was closed and the eerily empty roads echoed the sound of sawing and drilling as glaziers boarded up shop fronts.

On the M9, around 80 protesters in balaclavas and hoods brought the motorway to a standstill around half a mile from Bannockburn, by piling branches and stones across both carriageways.

By the time police arrived 12 minutes later, a significant tailback had built up on the northbound side of the motorway which took about five hours to clear.

The protesters had set out with the aim of preventing access for translators, caterers and other support staff working at the G8 summit.

They appeared to have succeeded. Among those waiting by cars and vans with their engines turned off were a number of people wearing Gleneagles accreditation badges.

Around 12 police vans had arrived and a line of riot police formed at the bottom of the hill below the motorway. They advanced slowly on protesters who, after throwing a couple of stones and shouting taunts, beat a retreat, eventually disappearing into the surrounding woods when confronted with another line of police.

An hour later, after listening to drumming and singing from the woods, a smaller group of protesters emerged further up the motorway. They sat among the standstill traffic singing Kumbaya and All You Need is Love.

Evidence of further blockades was seen along the A9 where piles of stones and branches lay beside the road after they had been hastily cleared by police.

On the A823, a main approach road to Gleneagles, officers were crowded round a car which had been parked sideways across the road, with two men lying on either side, their arms linked underneath the bodywork. Two women were locked inside the vehicle.

Aside from a scuff le which broke out when police arrested two men trying to join the group inside the car, the protest was good-humoured. When the car was eventually towed away at 12.30pm, one officer, with a Merseyside accent, shook hands with the dozen protesters, mostly Irish, who were watching the events. "It's been a pleasure meeting you.

Sorry we had to arrest those two, " he said.

At Auchterarder, the G8 Alternatives march was finally allowed to leave the park just after 2pm following several hours of confusion in which police initially insisted the march had been cancelled.

Such was its size it took more than half an hour to wind its way into the street.

Leading it were Colin Fox, Carolyn Leckie and Frances Curran, the Scottish Socialist MSPs and George Galloway, the Respect MP.

In marked contrast to Monday's march in Edinburgh, officers kept their distance at the rear of the procession and maintained a low profile refraining from filming protesters as has been standard in the capital.

Indeed, the only use of a siren was to clear the road after a female officer was clipped by an unmarked police car.

As the leaders of the march made their way back to the park, the final section of the procession turned a corner close to the perimeter fence outside Gleneagles, gasping at the sight of hundreds of their companions being chased across a field by riot police.

A small number of the marchers had climbed the small fence, entered a field, and made their way towards a line of mounted police behind the G8 barricades and a watchtower manned by police.

Within a short time hundreds of protesters had followed them through the fields in the hope of making the protest heard in the hotel.

However, when some of the protesters started to throw missiles at the police, riot officers came through the fence and conf lict erupted.

At least one protester, with blood gushing from his head, claimed that the police had hit him with batons in an unprovoked attack.

A stand-off with the police followed.

There was a minority who threw stones and fence posts at the riot police.

A line of police horses came galloping along the perimeter fence.

A Chinook swept in behind them, coming to rest in the field between the media and the police lines. The aircraft, more used to operating in war zones, dropped like a stone, the back door f lew open and at least 30 riot police ran out to reforge the ring of steel that had been breached.

Pat Fisher and her partner had travelled from Carlisle for the protest and she condemned the police behaviour in the field. She said: "I am tiny and I was walking backwards in the direction they wanted me to go when they pushed me down with their shields.

"It was absolutely unbelievable. One policeman was actually frothing at the mouth as he came forward. It was very frightening. There was no need for the level of force they used.

Everyone there, with a few exceptions, were protesting peacefully, " she said.

Last night, the area around Gleneagles appeared to be calm, but still braced for more disorder today.

Latest flash points

1 STIRLING Pitched battles with police erupted as violent protesters targeted a Burger King restaurant and other businesses. At least 21 arrested in the Stirling area.

2 BANNOCKBURN Protesters - including some wearing black crash helmets and carrying iron bars - smashed the windscreens of parked cars and threw rocks at police vans.

3 AUCHTERARDER Hundreds of people on rally breach the first protective fence near Gleneagles Hotel. Some marchers throw missiles at police officers.

EDINBURGH A series of unexpected demonstrations in the city centre and on other main routes caused serious disruption.

GLASGOW At least four anti-G8 protesters arrested following disruption near George Square.