THE worst night of violence at Stonehenge in more than a decade ruined the final summer solstice celebration of the millennium today.

As up to 1,000 revellers gathered to usher in sunrise on the longest day of the year, trouble flared at 2am when a length of the fence around the monument near Salisbury was trampled over.

Nearly 300 people over-ran police and clambered into the stone circle. Eight climbed on top of the stones and were there until after 7am.

About 100 policemen were drafted in, including riot officers and many on horseback and with dogs. Over two hours they managed largely to clear the stones but were met throughout with abusive taunts.

Many in the crowds spat on officers or lashed out when moved.

There were fears, too, for the safety of children caught up in what often bordered on rioting, but police reported only one serious casualty, a riot control officer thought to have been hit in the face with an object thrown by protesters.

Twenty-two people were arrested over nearly three hours of stand-offs with heavy drinking blamed for much of the antagonism.

Police and Stonehenge guardians English Heritage condemned the violence and Chief Inspector Nick Mitchell-Briggs, joint commander of the night's policing, described his "despair" at events.

"We have had some extremely unruly and violent elements bent on getting into the stone circle at whatever cost," he said. "What these people have done is to destroy the faith that has been put in them."

This year was the first since 1985 - when a pitched battle between police and travellers led to hundreds of arrests at the so-called Battle of the Beanfield - that a four-mile exclusion zone has not been in force around the stones, following an Appeal Court judgement this year that clouded the zone's legality.

Police and English Heritage had hoped that a gradual plan let people back in at solstice time would work, but an agreement to give special access to 150 druids, pagans, archaeologists and locals at sunrise today had to be scrapped.

English Heritage's director of Stonehenge, Clews Everard, called events "an absolute tragedy".

"This is the last dawn of this millennium and so many people have worked so hard to try and make this a special event. We planned that groups of people could come to the Stonehenge site and have special access so that they could enjoy and celebrate the summer solstice.

"But a large number of people ruined it for everyone.''

The future of solstice access to the stones is now under serious threat, while police in the short term fear there could be a re-run of trouble tonight, as a late solstice this year means dawn tomorrow is seen by many as the true time to celebrate.

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