FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank plans to hold its mid-month policy meeting early, move staff out of its headquarters and shift a farewell event for one of its board members out of town, all to avoid clashes with anti-capitalist ‘Blockupy’ protesters.

‘Blockupy’ activists angry at the way the financial crisis is affecting ordinary people are set to demonstrate in central Frankfurt from Wednesday to Saturday and have made the ECB and its building their central target.

The bank has already been the target of protesters once this year, having its windows smashed and paint bombs thrown over its building during ugly riots at the end of March that left one police officer in intensive care.

The bank is worried about staff safety and police, who fear there could be more trouble this time around, have begun erecting fences around its headquarters, a 36-story, glass-fronted skyscraper in the city’s banking district.

The ECB’s 23-member group of policymakers brought forward their mid-month meeting, which they normally reserve for non-monetary policy issues, from Wednesday, when the protests are set to get under way.

Key ECB staff will be moved off-site to secret contingency locations to avoid them getting caught up in any trouble. Security for the staff who remain at the headquarters has also been beefed up.

“The ECB will take all necessary measures to ensure the continuity of its critical operations and to remain operational,” a spokesperson for the bank said.

“It will also make all efforts possible to ensure the safety and security of its staff and visitors on the basis of the protection which is granted to the ECB’s premises and operations by the headquarters agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany,” she added.

LEGAL ROW

There has been a legal scrap between protesters and authorities over whether the demonstrations should be allowed to go ahead. A court on Monday gave the go-ahead for a rave on Wednesday and protests on Saturday but ruled against them taking place on the other days.

The ECB has shifted a farewell event for outgoing board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, due to be attended by policymakers from around the world.

It was originally to be held at one of Frankfurt’s plushest hotels, just a stone’s throw from the ECB’s headquarters. Instead it will now be held out of town with guests to be told the exact location only hours beforehand.

Commercial banks who have offices in the protest zone are also expected to ship staff to other locations to avoid problems.

Frankfurt police have told bank staff to come to work in casual dress, and go to the office as soon as possible. “We are watching the situation closely,” Deutsche Bank said.

Germany’s state-controlled KFW will reduce staff presence in Frankfurt staff by 50 percent by encouraging people to work from home or from off-site locations.

Commerzbank said its two main offices in Frankfurt would be closed from Thursday - a national holiday in Germany - till Sunday and some branches in the city centre would also be temporarily shut. Employees based there would work at off-site locations on Friday, a bank spokeswoman said.

Landesbank Helaba said it wanted to keep its Frankfurt operations running on Friday but had encouraged as many staff as possible to take the day off. Helaba has also beefed up security and erected some barriers.