POLICE are throwing the biggest “ring of steel” in 27 years around Saturday’s Grand National to protect it from protesters — including having spies in the crowd.
Last year’s race was delayed for 14 minutes after activists got on the course — with some securing themselves to fences.
PAActivists got on the course with some securing themselves to fences at last year’s Grand National[/caption]
Animal Rising — the group behind those protests — has said that it will not target the Aintree event this year.
They were blamed by trainer Sandy Thomson for the death of his horse Hill Sixteen, which fell at the first fence after going “hyper” due to the delays.
Merseyside Police said it is not taking any chances in making sure this year’s event runs without incident — with a crowd of 150,000 expected.
Along with armed cops, there will be “Project Servator” officers on site in uniform and plain clothes.
They are specially trained units who analyse crowd behaviour to foil attacks before they happen.
Supt Matthew Moscrop said: “These deployments will appear at any time in and around the area of the racecourse, but the public should not be alarmed by this.”
It is believed to be the biggest security operation since an IRA bomb threat in 1997 led to the course being evacuated and the race being postponed and run two days later.
Last year, police made 118 arrests, with ten people charged, while there are another 50 cases currently awaiting a decision from the CPS.
Supt Moscrop added: “We are very happy with our response last year. The fact the race was delayed for just 14 minutes is a massive success.
“But building on that, we have reviewed the intelligence so we are ready again to deal with any challenges that arise, possible criminal activity and ways to counter that.”
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