THREE dozen people of all beliefs and faiths, but mainly Pagan, gathered on a hillside near Chipping Norton yesterday to stare eastward for the first glimpse of the sun on the longest day of the year.

The group were united by a desire to witness the solstice sunrise at the Rollright Stones, the county's ancient stone circle.

The sun rose at 4.50am and was greeted with a softly sung incantation as well as enthusiastic drumming.

Sue Small, 60, from Abingdon, arrived about 8pm the night before to cold and windy weather.

Together with her daughter Tamzin (named after a Cornish witch), and two of her grandsons, they moved to the stone circle and started playing drums and whistles.

Sue said: "The earlier hours between 3am and 4am got quite chilly. But we go every year and the weather doesn't put us off."

Dominic Wetherell, 37, of Derby, who also arrived on Wednesday evening, said: "It's an amazing place. There is this legend that you can't count the same number of stones twice - there was a guy trying to do it there, but he just couldn't."

Similar events took place across the country yesterday, including at Stonehenge where 24,000 witnessed the sunrise.