FIFTEEN hundred people braved a chilly morning to mark the summer solstice today at Avebury.

But they were denied seeing the sun rise at 4.58 as misty skies kept cover on the longest day of the year.

Inspector Willy Glasgow of Swindon Police said: "We've had half the turnout that we had last year. It was all very quiet and passed without incident. Everyone behaved themselves."

A mix of druids, pagans and others with no spiritual allegiance spent the night among the 5,000-year-old stones waiting for the dawn.

They sat in groups, some drinking, while the sound of a didgeridoo was heard.

Meanwhile, at Stonhenge 30 miles away, about 21,000 people gathered and 17 were arrested for minor public order offences.

And, with the first solstice since the reclassification of cannabis, a police spokesman said officers were maintaining a policy in accordance with the law, but concentrating resources on those suspected of possession with intent to supply.

Inside the ring itself, thousands packed tightly around groups of drummers and other musicians while some took the opportunity to sprawl on the ancient stones normally beyond public reach.

But the focus of the activity before dawn was on an impromptu open-air dance next to the famous Heal Stone, the marker for sunrise on summer solstice.

Druid leader "King Arthur Pendragon" presided over the festivities standing amid a ring of flaming torches overshadowed by a pair of giant horns, themselves lit by burning branches.

While the costumes harked back to ancient Britons, the music ranged from jungle to jazz.

And while some held flaming torches and wooden staffs aloft, others waved digital cameras and hand-rolled cigarettes.

"King Arthur", who adopted the name in 1986 to denote his position as "Battle Chieftain of the Council of British Druids", said the festivities marked the imminent arrival of dawn.

He said: "The fire symbolically welcomes the sun for the longest day of the year, part of the seasonal wheel which we as druids and pagans celebrate.

"It's not a day in church for us, it's a celebration, we don't sit in pews."

Catherine Turnbull