Live feed of the summer solstice sunrise cancelled at Stonehenge after police called

Pre-recorded video of landmark broadcast to thousands as coverage interrupted

The live feed of the summer solstice sunrise at Stonehenge was pulled due to safety concerns, English Heritage, the charity that manages the monument, said.

Although English Heritage had requested that people view the solstice sunrise via a live stream on their social media rather than attending in person, in order to comply with current Covid restrictions, around 100 people entered the stone circle early this morning.

The crowd prompted the charity to cut the live stream, causing viewers to miss the 4.52am sunrise. Thousands of people who had tuned in to watch the event on Facebook and YouTube were shown pre-recorded footage of the Neolithic monuments instead.

A live feed of the site returned to the social media channels around 5am, showing a cloudy sky.

Ed Shires, the host of the event said: “I would like to apologise on behalf of myself and the English Heritage team for the difficulties that we have had this morning. It hasn’t gone according to plan.

“We have been disappointed that a number of people have chosen to disregard our request not to travel to the stones this morning and that is the reason why we haven’t been able to bring you the pictures that we would have liked to have done.

“It is disappointing to see that happen but unfortunately in those kind of situations we have to put the safety of our staff members first and that’s why we had some interruption this morning.

“We have been told by police that people have now been dispersed and the situation is under control.”

English Heritage did not explain how or why those in attendance prevented the organisation from showing a live feed of the sunrise.

Solstices are believed to have been celebrated at the Neolithic monument for millennia, as the sarsen stones — the stones at the centre of the site, aligned with the movements of the sun — were raised around 2500 BC. On a clear day, the rays of sunlight channeled into the centre of the monument can be seen at sunrise on the summer solstice.

Normally, around 30,000 people would attend the sunrise at the ancient stones on the longest day of the year, but this was the second consecutive year the event had to go virtual because of coronavirus restrictions.

English Heritage had hoped to welcome visitors back to the site, but with the lifting of lockdown restrictions delayed until 19 July, they had to encourage would-be attendees to watch online instead.

Wiltshire Police thanked the public for being “well behaved” and for helping “solstice 2021 pass peacefully”.

They added: “The solstice weekend was peaceful with only a minor incursion into the stone circle at Stonehenge in the early hours of this morning which was handled in a positive manner.”