Police must change the way they manage protests or risk losing public confidence, a report into the G20 demonstrations has warned.

Senior officers are too focused on dealing with disorder and not enough on allowing peaceful protest, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Denis O'Connor, has said.

His report into the April 1 London protests found public order training and tactics are "inadequate for the modern day".

He said officers are too interested in whether protests are lawful or not, instead of focusing on allowing peaceful demonstrations.

Mr O'Connor said some officers policing G20 were not sufficiently aware of human rights laws and he criticised police use of containment to pen in demonstrators on the day Ian Tomlinson died, calling it "inconsistent".

He called on the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) to carry out a wide-ranging review of tactics and training for officers dealing with protesters.

The Metropolitan Police accepted the report's recommendations and launched a review of officer training.

But Assistant commissioner Chris Allison denied senior officers were unaware of human rights laws and how they relate to protests.

However, he accepted the Met could lose public confidence if it did not make changes to how it polices protest.

He said: "As an organisation that serves the public, we accept that we must always seek to provide the best possible service and this means making improvements where necessary."

Mr O'Connor said the changes must be made as soon as possible to "meet the challenges of the 21st century", and particularly ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games.

James Welch, legal director at human rights group Liberty said: "We welcome the finding that the police have a positive duty to facilitate peaceful protest and a common sense obligation not to make difficult situations worse.

"However, this debate is only just beginning. The tactic of 'kettling' large groups so that peaceful protesters and passers-by are trapped for hours alongside more troublesome elements exacerbates tensions and creates a risk to public safety."

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.