Police ban 20 fans from Paris friendly

Police have launched a major crackdown on football hooligans on the eve of England's friendly with France.

Police have launched a major crackdown on football hooligans on the eve of England's friendly with France.

More than 20 people were banned from going to the fixture in Paris under a new law rushed through after the violence at Euro 2000.

Two Brighton fans were banned from all football matches for two years, after a man from Swindon was given a similar ban on Wednesday. Twenty-one more supporters were told to surrender their passports as a condition of bail when their cases were adjourned. They included a man held at Waterloo after booking on a Eurostar train.

Intelligence officers were at ports and railway stations to try to ensure troublemakers could not get to the French capital.

The Football (Disorder) Act was rushed through Parliament after the trouble in Belgium at Euro 2000. Police can stop anyone they think is likely to cause trouble and take away their passports in the five days leading up to an international game.

In addition, 117 fans are already subject to banning orders of varying types issued under the pre-existing legislation. They remain in place.

First to be banned under the new powers was Christopher Sawford, from Swindon, on Wednesday. Yesterday, Steven Turnball, 28, of Littlehampton, West Sussex, and his twin brother Christopher, of Kingsmere, Littlehampton, were banned from all football matches for two years. The Brighton fans appeared at Chichester Crown Court. They are known to have committed anti-social behaviour at football matches, said a spokesman for the National Criminal Intelligence Service.