THE summer solstice celebrations at Avebury at dawn on Monday were muted compared with recent years.

Only a fraction of the number which packed in during the last few years were present to see the day break on Monday.

Disappointingly for the few hundred who assembled in the 4,000-year-old stone rings they did not see the sun rise.

Dawn was marred by mist instead of the glorious sunrise the revellers had been hoping for.

Druid Terry Dobney who calls himself the Keeper of The Stones said less than 200 people joined in the ritual joining of hands in a large circle to mark the solstice daybreak.

Mr Dobney said drummers played all through the night from sunset to sunrise. He said: "We drank and we sang and we chattered."

In contrast, Stonehenge rang to the sound of jungle drums and jazz saxophone as thousands thronged the monument to mark the solstice.

About 21,000 people opted to banish Monday morning blues and brave the chilly temperatures to catch a glimpse of the sun rising between the ancient stones.

With druids and the occasional punk mingling happily with tourists and students, the atmosphere was a far cry from the angry scenes between police and revellers a decade ago.

By dawn Wiltshire Police had made only a handful of arrests, all for public order offences.

However, Rob Mimmack, the Avebury site manager said in the past two summer solstices had occurred at the weekend when people did not have to go to work the next day.

Mr Mimmack said: "Personally I think the drop in numbers was to do with the fact that it was Sunday night into Monday morning and a lot of people that would have attended at a weekend had to go to work."

Police said the celebrations at Avebury were noisy but trouble free and they made no arrests.

Another reason for the drop in numbers attending this year was a police clampdown on illegal parking.

Hundreds of police no-parking cones lined the main Swindon-Devizes road through the village and for a mile on either side.

Notices made it clear that any cars parked illegally or causing obstruction in field gateways would be towed away and the owners would have to pay a recovery fee.

Last year the police called in breakdown firms to remove dozens of cars parked along the main road which were causing obstruction.

Police allowed people to park along the road leading from Avebury to West Kennett and operated a one-way system for traffic.

Since last year parking charges have been introduced in the main car park at Avebury but the National Trust did not enforce them over the weekend when many travellers camped in the car park.

Mr Mimmack said the campers were allowed to stay until noon on Monday before being moved on.

At Stonehenge 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.

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, it's a celebration."