A major security operation is under way in South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire ahead of the arrival of Donald Trump on Friday.

The US president is expected to visit his Turnberry golf resort and his course at Menie during the four-day trip to Scotland.

The small village at Turnbery, close to the course, has seen its population swell with the arrival of security officials and a large police presence.

Road closures and diversions have been put in place, while a security checkpoint outside the resort and a large fence have been erected.

Trump last visited Turnberry, which he bought from a Dubai-based firm in 2014, two years ago prior to his most recent term in office.

Convoys of police vehicles have been seen heading for Scotland in recent days as officers from around the UK are drafted in to help with the policing operation.

A large metal fence has been put up around the side of the Turnberry course, while officers were seen stopping every car entering for a security check.

Diversions on minor roads directing drivers away from the resort have also been put in place.

Gavin Scott, an independent councillor in the nearby town of Girvan, said the visit was a chance to showcase the area to the world.

But he said the level of security had left some locals feeling “nervous”.

Mr Scott said: “We’re all quite excited, although there is a bit of negativity attached over who is footing this massive security bill.

“And does he [Trump] have to make the place look like one of his American prisons?”

He added: “It’s great publicity, this visit will probably go out worldwide and it lets the world know what a beautiful part of the world we are here.

“But it’s inconvenient, they’ve shut off main roads. I would say there is more negativity about it.”

Iris Ritchie, who was walking her dogs, Toby, Scruffy and Roo near the beach, said she had not seen many police in the centre of the village.

“It really hasn’t been that much of a nuisance, it’s just the way it is,” she said.

“It’s easy enough to work your way around the restrictions, it isn’t that much of an inconvenience.”

Local resident Margaret Barr said locals were more concerned about the potential for protests than Trump’s arrival.

“Apart from the road restrictions, I feel quite safe because there are police everywhere,” she said.

“It is his [Trump’s] hotel, the golf course is very popular so it doesn’t really bother us.

“If there were protesters here, we would be quite annoyed about. We have to put politics aside.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has said he planned to give Donald Trump a “warm welcome” when he arrives in Scotland on Friday.

Murray told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland his meeting with the president was “unconfirmed”.

The Scottish secretary is the cabinet minister who represent Scottish interests within the UK government.

He said it was in the “national interest” to ensure Trump received a warm welcome in Scotland, where the president has family ties.

“It’s expected but not fully confirmed yet,” Murray said when asked if he would meet Trump.

“The details are still being worked out.”

He added: “Of course it’s a warm welcome.

“We would always have a warm welcome for the president of the United States – and the office of the United States and the office of the prime minister work very closely together.

“My predecessor, David Mundell, met with the president when he last landed in Scotland so it’s a duty for us to make sure we are welcoming foreign dignitaries to Scotland in the right way, particularly one that is our closest and nearest ally both economically and in defence and security.”

In April 2019, Murray voted in favour of a motion raised in the House of Commons which called on then-prime minister Theresa May to rescind the offer of an official state visit to Trump during his first term.

The motion, tabled by Labour’s Stephen Doughty, said the House “deplored” Trump’s “misogynism, racism and xenophobia” among other criticisms of his time in office.

When asked if his view had changed since then, Murray said there was “global interest” in preserving the relationship between the UK and US.

He told the programme: “The long historic ties, cultural ties, economic ties between the US and the UK, we are the closest allies in the world and we have to make sure we are working together for the benefit of our national interest and the benefit of the global interest as well.

“Given the US is our closest ally, given we have just done a trade agreement with them to remove tariffs for the benefit of UK and Scottish businesses and given global events at the moment, it is really, really important for these historic ties to work with our global allies.”

The Scottish Conservatives shadow Scottish secretary, Andrew Bowie, said Murray had performed a “complete U-turn” on his view of Trump.

He said: “I’m glad that Ian Murray has belatedly recognised how vital it is for Scotland to welcome, and work constructively with, the US president – but he’d have more credibility if he put his hands up and owned his past juvenile opportunism.

“No wonder the public are turned off by politics and politicians when they hear the Scottish secretary trying to take them for fools.”