PARK at your peril is the warning Wiltshire police are giving to anyone intending to go to Avebury to see the midsummer sun rise tomorrow.

Hundreds of revellers are expected to flock to the village for the summer solstice in the hopes of seeing the sun rise over the ancient stones circles.

Police have warned that only very limited parking will be available in the village.

The National Trust has ignored requests from local people to provide extra parking to prevent the village being brought to a standstill as it nearly was last year.

Police had to call in garages with breakdown trucks to remove dozens of cars parked illegally on the approach roads to the village.

Drivers had to pay a recovery fee to get their cars back from a police pound plus the cost of getting a taxi from Avebury.

Insp Bill Dowling, the Marlborough area police commander, has urged anyone who wants to attend the solstice celebrations in Avebury to leave their cars at home.

Cones banning parking will be placed on the roads around Avebury not already covered by double yellow lines and Insp Dowling warned that the police get-tough policy on illegal parking will continue.

Insp Dowling said: "The best advice we can give is to leave your cars at home and get someone else to drop you off in Avebury or use public transport."

The large southern car park on the Devizes side of the village is expected to fill quickly by the weekend with travellers' vehicles and others who plan to camp there for the entire weekend.

Police will be laying on extra officers throughout the weekend and have held extensive consultations with villagers, the parish council, Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council.

Insp Dowling said the police did not want to be spoilsports and stop people having fun but stressed that officers would come down heavily on illegally parked vehicles.

His message to would-be revellers or those who want to observe the solstice celebrations was: "Come and enjoy yourselves but be aware there is limited parking.

"If you park where you shouldn't then you can expect your car to be towed away."

Police are expecting 30,000 people to head for Wiltshire for the solstice celebrations and have advised motorists to avoid the Avebury and Stonehenge areas if they can.

Commuters and delivery drivers who would normally use the A303 past Stonehenge and the A4361 through Avebury are being told to seek alternative routes or expect delays

A police spokesman said roads will be chaotic "The addition of the array of vehicles bringing over 30,000 people to both locations will undoubtedly cause congestion throughout the night as they arrive and again in the morning as they leave," he said.

English Heritage will be closing the Silbury Hill car park for the weekend and will have security staff on hand to prevent anyone climbing the 130 feet monument which has been closed to the public for several years.