The US Secret Service storms the beaches of Cornwall: Airbase is turned into a huge RV camp and Osprey helicopters soar over Carbis Bay in massive G7 security operation that promises chaos for locals and staycationers
US President Joe Biden's security team for the G7 summit is so vast they will have to stay in hired camper vans because there is not enough accommodation.
More than 50 of the luxury vehicles – known as Recreational Vehicles (RVs) – have been delivered to St Mawgan airbase near Newquay, 20 miles from where the meeting of world leaders takes place in the tiny Cornish resort of Carbis Bay at the weekend.
A 400-strong contingent of Secret Service agents and support staff are due to arrive for the summit, which will be hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson from Friday, but with thousands of holidaymakers already in the area, almost every hotel and B&B in a 30-mile radius of the summit has been booked.
Meanwhile, video footage showed two Sea King and three Osprey helicopters soaring above Cornwall and Devon as they practiced the route the President will take from Newquay Airport to Tregenna Castle Resort, St Ives, after Air Force One lands on Wednesday.
Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States will come together in Cornwall for the annual G7 summit because the region is seen as central to the UK's green technology sector.
Some 1,000 police will be staying on a cruise liner docked in Falmouth harbour and others will stay in RVs currently parked up at the RAF airbase near Newquay.
United States Marine Corps (USMC) Osprey helicopters are seen flying above St Michael's Mount, left, and landing on a grass area of the mount, right. The Osprey helicopters carry Biden's staff, while the President travels in Marine One
More than 50 of the RVs (pictured) – have been delivered to RAF air base St Magwan which is 20 miles from Carbis Bay where word leaders will meet for the G7 summit at the weekend.
A 400-strong contingent of Secret Service agents and support staff are due to arrive for the summit being hosted by Boris Johnson and held in the tiny Cornish resort of Carbis Bay. President Biden is believed to be staying in the Tregenna hotel in Carbis Bay
A convoy of US Secret Service personnel vehicles are pictured heading towards RAF St Mawgan
The convoy was accompanied by police vehicles as security is ramped up ahead of the summit
Traffic is already heavy in Cornwall, and many bridges over the main arterial road the A30 will be closed. A line of caravans is pictured on the A30 on Monday evening
A Sea King helicopter, designated Marine One when it its carrying the Preisdent, landed on the golf course at the Carbis Bay resort on Monday evening as his pilots familiarised themselves with the route they will take after he arrives in Cornwall on Wednesday
British police carry out a standard search pattern security check on Carbis Bay beach early on Tuesday morning
An aerial photograph shows Carbis Bay beach, including the hotel where the G7 summit will be held
Carbis Bay is just a mile along the coast from the popular holiday hotspot of St Ives. Security around the area has been ramped up in recent days
HMS Tamar, a Royal Navy patroll vessel, patrols off Carbis Bay early on Tuesday morning as part of the intense security mission
Armed British police land on Carbis Bay beach early on Tuesday morning as security teams practice ahead of the summit
It comes after a long line of caravans clogged up the A30 yesterday as holidaymakers made their way to the southern-most point of England.
One photograph shared on social media yesterday showed heavy traffic that had been 'crawling' for around 20 minutes near the Devon-Cornwall border.
Meanwhile for the summit, some 30 vehicles have been leased from a Somerset company called Empire RV, which usually supplies luxury vehicles for film shoots and Grand Prix events.
The US camper vans are so large that the company warns many can only be driven by one of their experienced staff and are not available for self-drive hire.
The most luxurious American campers – some the size of an articulated lorry - can sleep up to eight people and come equipped with satellite TV and many other home comforts.
The RVs, which will be used by support staff and Secret Service agents for President Biden, are expected to be driven to the Tregenna Hotel in Carbis Bay where the US President is due to stay during the three-day conference.
The castle boasts 98 bedrooms and is the grandest hotel in the county, featuring a 72-acre estate and an 18-hole golf course.
The US motor homes have been rented for £2,500 each for a week by the US Embassy in London and include the 45ft long former RV used by Jensen Button when he was racing in Formula 1.
A spokesman for Bristol based Empire RV said they had set up a mini village at the St Mawgan airbase.
Two Sea kings (one is pictured) and three MV 22 Ospreys fly into Carbis Bay, Cornwall on Monday evening
The US aircraft flew into Cornwall on Monday evening ahead of the meeting of world leaders this weekend
An Osprey is pictured landing at Tregenna Castle, St Ives for G7 meeting. Three US Marine Osprey aircraft have been seen over St Michael Mount and the Carbis Bay area
The skies above Cornwall have been buzzing with US military aircraft in preparation for Biden’s arrival
The 400 strong contingent of staff accompanying the President is so large the Cabinet Office, who are organising the G7 event, baulked at waiving quarantine rules for so many. Pictured, the RVs
The luxury RVs will house security personnel during the court of the weekend after tourists booked hotels up
The huge cruise ship Silja Europa, which has been hired to accommodate many of the 6,500 police officers who will be policing the G7 Summit in Cornwall, has docked in Falmouth as the Cornish town prepares to welcome world leaders
More than 6,500 officers from forces across the UK are set to be deployed across the summit, and hundreds of police will spend their off-duty time on the massive 202m long MS Silja Europa
The 14-deck vessel, which was built in Germany in 1993 and can reach speeds of 21 knots, can carry more than 3,000 passengers with hundreds of cocktail-tray waiters, maids and other crew to look after their every need
The RVs, which will be used by support staff and Secret Service agents for President Biden, are expected to be driven to the Tregenna Hotel (pictured) in Carbis Bay where the US President is due to stay during the three-day conference
A helicopter, which is dubbed Marine One when the US president is onboard, practised landing on the golf course at the Tregenna Castle Resort - where President Biden and the other world leaders will stay - on Monday evening.
Pilots familiarising the route they will take after Air Force One lands at Newquay Airport later this week have taken to the skies above Cornwall in recent days.
Three US Marine Osprey aircraft have been seen over St Michael Mount and the Carbis Bay area.
The aircrafts' purpose is to fly White House staff during the President's trips abroad. They also transport Secret Service agents that follow Marine One in case the helicopter goes down.
Yesterday evening at 8pm Ospreys were seen over Haldon Hills near Exeter, where it is thought they may have just left Exeter Airport.
By 8.40pm the aircraft were spotted landing at Tregenna Castle Resort.
The helicopters were seen landing at Carlyon Bay, St Austell, at 9.45pm, before descending onto Tregenna Castle Resort at 10.15pm.
The aircraft were brought to the UK on the US Air Force's Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. They were offloaded at the Royal Navy airbase Culdrose, near Helston, on Sunday.
It is Biden’s first overseas trip since being sworn in as president in January after beating Donald Trump in the November election.
The 400-strong contingent of staff accompanying the President is so large the Cabinet Office, who are organising the G7 event, baulked at waiving quarantine rules for so many.
But after assurances all staff accompanying the President have undergone Covid tests, as well as being fully vaccinated, approval was given.
Members of the Secret Service, who are tasked with protecting the President, have made numerous visits to the Carbis Bay hotel where the conference will be held.
They have been liaising with Devon and Cornwall Police over security arrangements being put in place during the summit which begins on June 11.
Protester promises to attempt to disrupt the conference led 5,000 police officers from around the UK to be drafted in to provide round the clock security.
Residents living near the hotel will have to show two forms of ID to be allowed past check points as a ring of steel is thrown around the summit venue with roads and coastal footpaths closed.
Police began ramping up security by announcing they would be closing down access to the 30 bridges over the A30 – the main road leading into and through Cornwall, including towns such as Bodmin, Redruth and Truro.
Fears that the protestors from Extinction Rebellion and other groups will try to shut down the A30 led police to restrict access.
Paper notices have been pinned to lampposts informing residents that the bridges will be closed for up to 21 days.
The notices read: 'It is necessary to mitigate the danger to the public or damage to the highway (from incidents) that may arise from the hosting of an event taking place in Carbis Bay.’
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said the closures had been enforced under Anti-Terrorism Traffic Regulation Orders.
The cost of policing the G7 Summit has been put at £70million and is by far the biggest security operation put into force in Devon and Cornwall.
Climate change activists have been warned they will not be allowed to stage any demonstration near to the Carbis Bay area with designated areas for protests in Falmouth and Plymouth.
But with Extinction Rebellion calling on its supporters to converge of Cornwall there are fears they will attempt to breach the security cordon thrown around the Carbis Bay and St Ives area.
A protest group Resist G7 has started a GoFundMe donation page to raise money for protestors to travel and stay in Cornwall during the conference.
More than 6,500 police from forces across the UK are set to be deployed across the summit, and around one sixth of them will spend their off-duty time on the massive 202m long MS Silja Europa.
Police officers search the beach with metal detectors at Carbis Bay, Cornwall, ahead of the G7 summit
A huge US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III plane was seen dropping Joe Biden's helicopter (pictured) at Royal Navy airbase Culdrose near Helston
The 14-deck vessel was built in Germany in 1993 and comes with a grill house, moonlight disco, pools and a spa and can reach speeds of 21 knots. It can carry more than 3,000 passengers, with hundreds of cocktail-tray waiters, maids and other crew to look after their every need.
It is usually sent on cruises between Helsinki and Tallinn, and was described by its operator Estonian shipping company Tallink as 'the biggest and most beautiful cruise ship on the Baltic'.
Devon and Cornwall Police said the liner has been hired for 10 days and used by officers for accommodation, catering and 'other essential facilities'. Whoever gets one of the executive suites will even have their own sauna.
However, cruise liners have come under fire from climate change activists for their role in polluting the world and causing carbon emission damage on a grand scale - just one of the issues on the cards for the G7 leaders.
And disgruntled locals have slammed the force for chartering the vessel 'for what will be little more than an ego trip for BoJo where Devon and Cornwall council taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill'.
Earlier this week, a huge US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III plane was seen dropping Joe Biden's helicopter at Royal Navy airbase Culdrose near Helston.
Pictures show the massive four-engine aircraft landing and dropping off a khaki and white helicopter with 'United States of America' written on it.
A police spokesperson for G7 planning said: 'We will be deploying over 6,500 officers and staff to this event and we are supporting a vast range of local businesses and suppliers as part of our extensive logistical arrangements.
'This includes using over 4,000 rooms at almost 200 venues across Devon and Cornwall which will support local communities and accommodate police officers and staff deployed from across the UK.
'In order to secure further essential capacity, we reviewed a number of options and recently agreed to hire the MS Silja Europa, operated by Tallink; taking into account impacts to the environment, community, the operational needs, and those of our officers and staff.
'The vessel will remain static, moored in Falmouth, used for a 10-day period, with only the accommodation, catering and other essential facilities in use.
'We are working closely with the vessel owners, ports authorities and health partners to ensure the safe use of this accommodation. Those staying onboard will strictly follow all the applicable Covid safety guidelines, enhanced by daily testing - consistent with staff staying at all other accommodation sites across the force area.'
The Silja Europa has seven restaurants and coffee shops, a nightclub, live music venue and full spa and beauty salon. But police insist most facilities will be closed, with only the restaurants available to officers, and the showtime theatre may be used but only for 'daily police briefings'.
Boris Johnson will use the G7 summit to secure a global pledge to vaccinate the world's population against Covid-19 by the end of 2022.
The Prime Minister will call on world leaders to agree a plan to end the pandemic by ensuring every person has access to a jab within the next 18 months.
He hailed the summit, which will be held in Cornwall, as 'historic'. The G7 starts on Friday, when the leaders will gather for a face-to-face meeting.
Around 5,000 police on duty will be on what is called 'mutual aid', meaning officers from other forces will be drafted in to work under the command of the Devon and Cornwall force for the summit at Carbis Bay, near St Ives.
Senior officers say the G7 will be the biggest policing and security event in England this year.
A website has launched, for how the G7 will be policed, and another Facebook live event has been held with updates from officials. Superintendent Jo Hall, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said 'We will be policing air, sea and land, it's quite a complex environment.
'You are likely to see high numbers of officers and staff, you are also likely to see fencing around the main areas, but that is nothing to be alarmed by, this is to ensure we can keep the event safe and secure, and keep communities safe.
'Part of that planning is to deliver 16,000 meals a day. We have secured over 100 accommodation sites in Cornwall, we have secured extra kennelling for our dogs that are coming down to support us.
'It is a really big logistical challenge, but we have planned for events like this before, we're used to planning big events and our plans are agile and scale-able.'
The regions' public health officials say they are used to dealing with large numbers of visitors in Cornwall and their main priority is to protect the health and safety of residents.
Police say anyone who doesn't need to be in the locations of key events should think about avoiding those areas.
Superintendent Hall said 'Summer is always busy for Cornwall. and you can expect restrictions around the key areas and in the run-up to and over the event, that's only natural with an event of this size.
'So if you don't need to be around those areas over the event, then you may want to think about coming another time or visiting one of the other beautiful beaches in Cornwall.'
It has also been announced that no trains will be running on the St Ives branch line from the 7th to 14th June, with replacement buses running instead.
It comes amid reports that Boris Johnson will use the G7 summit to secure a global pledge to vaccinate the world's population against coronavirus by the end of 2022.
The Prime Minister will call on world leaders to agree a plan to end the pandemic by ensuring every person has access to a jab within the next 18 months. He hailed the summit, which will be held in Cornwall, as 'historic'.
The G7 starts on Friday, when the leaders will gather for a face-to-face meeting. Mr Johnson said the premiers - which include US President Biden on his first foreign visit since taking office - must use the event to 'rise to the greatest challenge' since the Second World War.
Speaking ahead of the summit, Mr Johnson said: 'The world is looking to us to rise to the greatest challenge of the post-war era: defeating Covid and leading a global recovery driven by our shared values. Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history.
'I'm calling on my fellow G7 leaders to join us to end to this andemic and pledge will we never allow the devastation wreaked by coronavirus to happen again.'
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