Police today tried to allay growing concern that a “zero tolerance” approach during the summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge could lead to serious trouble.
Officers maintained they would police the ancient site in a fair and sensitive manner and played down comparisons to the tense build-up to last month’s G20 protests and to notorious clashes of the past such as the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985, when police stopped a convoy of new age travellers who were hoping to get near the henge for the solstice.
At a meeting today between police, English Heritage, druids and others who attend the event, fears were expressed that trouble could be provoked if the police at the site in Wiltshire clamped down heavily on offences such as possession of cannabis and being drunk and disorderly.
There were also worries that the new police tactics, which include using an unmanned drone that will fly above the stones, and the reintroduction of police horses, could spoil one of the great English celebrations.
Stonehenge summer solstice will not be like G20, police pledge | UK news | The Guardian
