PEMBROKESHIRE is preparing to get tough on illegal raves.

Farmers, landowners and local communities are being asked by the council's public protection department to be vigilant over suspicious vehicles or individuals, looking for sites within the county to hold illegal raves.

"We were extremely successful last year in preventing illegal gatherings of individuals holding raves and we don't want them to happen this year," said Gareth Watts, principal officer with the council's public protection division.

"We do not welcome those individuals, who are here to break the law and to cause distress and misery to communities."

The council is asking people to be on the look-out for any suspicious activity and to report this directly to the police or the council.

"We have now in place a multi-agency approach involving the various agencies, NFU, FUW and others and the only way we can tackle these type of events is to act quickly and together, " said Mr Watts.

Farmers and landowners are being told that they can help themselves in a number of ways, such as by ensuring they have accurate, up-to-date plans of all land occupied, including copies of deeds, tenancy agreements and grazing agreements.

Members of the public can phone the police on 0845 3302000, contact the public protection division on 01437 775454 or the county council's out of hours emergency number, 01437 775522.