RESIDENTS of Avebury fear that unless numbers gathering in the village for the annual solstice celebration are strictly controlled it could lead to a major confrontation in the future between travellers and police.

Supt Jerry Wickham and Insp Bill Dowling attended Avebury Parish Council meeting last week to hear the views of the village on the way this year's solstice gathering was handled.

Parish councillors told them they wanted Avebury to be given the same protection as Stonehenge, and several councillors made the point that although there is a village within the Avebury monument, Stonehenge always gets greater policing.

Chairman John Cronk said that Stonehenge can be closed to the public because it is a contained monument, but Avebury cannot similarly be shut off because there is a community inside the stone circle.

Coun Cronk said: "I have always been concerned about the risk of confrontation in the middle of the village."

He referred to the huge stand off between travellers and police in 1985 at Cholderton when a convoy heading for nearby Stonehenge was halted by officers. This led to a major confrontation which became known as the Battle of the Beanfield.

Coun Cronk said: "We are all aware of what happened then and we do not want that in our village."

The council chairman said that when police became concerned about the number gathering outside the Red Lion at 9.30pm on solstice night he was asked if he wanted the pub closed down. He told officers he was against that move in case it led to a confrontation.

He said: "The vexing problem is how do you contain a situation like this in the middle of a village? I am very mindful of the path police have to tread between protecting civil liberties and trying to protect us."

Supt Wickham said the problem at Avebury was that the numbers of people attending Stonehenge for the solstice celebration had grown from 8,000 in the year 2000 when managed access was granted for the first time, to an estimated 23,500 this year.

Many of those at Stonehenge wanted to go to the Glastonbury Festival eight days later, but as they were not permitted to remain at Stonehenge, headed to Avebury for the intervening period.

Supt Wickham said: "They come to Avebury because it is seen as a soft option.

"There is no doubt the way things are going, that the pressure on Avebury is going to get greater."

Coun Cronk said residents in Avebury could not understand why their village was not given the same level of protection as Stonehenge.

Supt Wickham said 300 officers were deployed at Stonehenge this year.

He said plans were already being made to provide a considerably greater number of officers at Avebury for future solstice celebrations.

"I can give you an assurance that on June 21 next year the police will be in Avebury in much greater numbers than they were this year."