London ? Security worries are more serious for President Bush’s upcoming trip to Britain than previous presidential visits, but some anti-war demonstrators may still be allowed to get close enough for Bush to see them, police said Wednesday.

Terror attacks around the world mean fears for the president’s safety are greater than for his predecessors who visited London, said London police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter.

But Trotter emphasized that demonstrations against the Iraq war and other Bush policies would go ahead, saying police would not use security as an excuse to spare Bush any embarrassment.

“He could quite easily come into contact with demonstrators,” Trotter said, explaining that some pedestrians would be allowed to stand along roads Bush travels on. “What would be extremely inappropriate would be for a large march to meet the convoy.”

Demonstrations against the Iraq war drew hundreds of thousands of people to central London earlier this year, and the Stop the War coalition said it hoped 60,000 people would join an anti-Bush march through the city Nov. 20.

Many Britons bitterly oppose Bush’s policies, and his state visit Tuesday through Nov. 21 calls attention to Blair’s close relationship with him just as the prime minister encourages the public to shift its attention to domestic concerns.

Trotter said police had not received any intelligence indicating a specific threat against Bush but noted that London had been on a high security alert for months.

A squad of British Guardsmen marches down The Mall, bedecked with British and U.S. flags, toward Buckingham Palace in London. The flags are for the upcoming four-day state visit of President Bush, which starts Nov. 21. Bush is expected to encounter demonstrations on his policies.

He also vehemently denied newspaper reports that police are bending to pressure from the White House or Blair’s office to shield Bush.

“There’s been no pressure and no influence whatsoever around the style of policing,” he said. “It’s our intention to facilitate lawful protests. … There’s no intention to spare anyone’s embarrassment.”

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said people were entitled to demonstrate, but he questioned why those who planned to march against Bush had not protested Iraq’s regime.

“What bothers me is the fashionable anti-Americanism that’s around,” he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

“Many more people, I guess, will be demonstrating about the United States and the action which the United States has had to take since Sept. 11 than ever demonstrated against the brutal, vicious, horrible regime of Saddam Hussein,” Straw said.