MORE than 15,000 people have started setting up camp at this year's Glastonbury Festival, police have said.

Thousands of music lovers turned up at the site in Pilton, Somerset, in preparation for the music event, which starts tomorrow and finishes on Sunday.

Organisers Glastonbury Festival Ltd said that around 25,000 will be on site, and 150,000 will be there by the weekend to see acts such as Radiohead, REM, Manic Street Preachers and Moby.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said there had been no problems so far.

He added: 'A lot of people are coming on site and pitching their tents in a good spot and then leaving the site again. There's a lot of coming and going.'

Police were mounting the largest ever security operation at the festival, with around 750 uniformed police and support staff on site, as well as extra CCTV.

A help-point has also been set up in the village to give locals a point of contact for any complaints or worries.

Chief Superintendent Mark Thompson said: 'Resources for this year's operation have considerably increased and we are hoping to build on the excellent results of last year.

'Last year saw a serious reduction in the amount of crime within the festival site and a lot of effort has been focused on mirroring this outside of the site.'

Police also appealed for people who have not got tickets to stay away from the village of Pilton and the festival site.

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Dateline: Thursday, June 26, 2003