The numbers of crimes at the 2003 festival were down to a record low

Officers from Avon and Somerset Police will be saddling up in an attempt to cut crime at the Worthy Farm site.

They will travel around the festival - which begins on Friday - on bikes instead of their usual 4X4 vehicles.

They will be targeting offenders in the site's car parks, which in previous years have been the scene of assaults and robberies.

Inspector Ian Wylie, head of the Glastonbury team, said: "Officers on mountain bikes can get around the site much more quickly and efficiently than those in 4x4 vehicles."

Last year crime on the festival site and in the Somerset village of Pilton where it is held reached a record low.

The line-up for this year's event features Sir Paul McCartney, Oasis, James Brown and Morrissey.