Under a cloudless sky and surrounded by the greenest of English landscapes, the two opposing forces assembled their ranks on a plot of land situated in rural Hertfordshire, like two medieval armies readying for battle.
On one side stood the scientists of Rothamsted Research (motto: where knowledge grows). On the other side stood an anti-GM movement known as Take the Flour Back (motto: cows on the grass, not cows in the grass). In between them was a not-so-thin blue line of police, who seemed to have it all under control.
Appletree field, where Britain's first trial of GM wheat is taking place, had for the moment escaped the threatened "decontamination" by the anti-GM activists who had vowed to destroy a crop they claim contains cow genes.
A band of about 200 activists was outmanoeuvred by a major security operation involving scores of police and private security guards who prevented anyone getting near Appletree field in the grounds of Rothamsted, where several small test plots of GM wheat are growing.
The local council had been given permission by the Home Secretary to impose a restriction zone around the site which allowed the police to prevent people using public footpaths leading through Rothamsted's land.
