Thousands of demonstrators take part in 'Put People First' march through central London, 28 Mar 2009Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of London todemonstrate ahead of the Group of 20 economic summit of world leadersscheduled for next week.

Tens of thousands of protestersgathered Saturday in cold, rainy weather to march through the citydemanding action on creating jobs, justice for the underprivileged andclimate change. The march was expected to conclude at the city's HydePark.

Organizers of the protest include trade unions, religiousorganization and environmental groups. They are calling it the "PutPeople First March."

Protests are expected to continue for several days.

Securityis tight in London ahead of the April second G-20 economic summit, butpolice and protest organizers say they expect the marches will bepeaceful.

Both the protests and summit take place against thebackdrop of a global recession with economic conditions not scene sincethe 1930s.

The G-20 was established in 1999 to bring togetherindustrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in theglobal economy. 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.