In England, an early start for hopeful supporters and a delayed rush-hour

England prepares

Waking up probably proved a little easier for millions of football fans today because they would have been desperate to watch the early morning World Cup clash between England and Nigeria.

With most of the nation's alarm clocks reset and travel arrangements changed, normal rush-hour was expected to be delayed by two hours because fans will decide to wait for the final whistle before heading into work.

Train companies throughout London and the South-east altered timetables to cope with the changed demands. Connex was planning to run a normal rush hour service until 9.30am after which longer trains were to be run to accommodate post-match stragglers.

For those wishing to stop off en route for some liquid assistance, an estimated 25,000 pubs and bars were planning to open from 7am. The more conscientious may have gone into work early to watch the match on one of the thousands of television sets being installed by employers. Some companies were planning to lay on bacon sandwiches and coffee to tempt staff into work for the kick-off.

The Manchester insurance firm, CIS decided to stage a charity breakfast for its 4,000 staff to allow them to watch the match before starting work.

The wheels of industry were also expected to grind to a halt. The Nissan car plant near Sunderland was stopping the line to allow 2,500 workers to cheer England.

The company hopes to make up the shortfall – estimated at 190 vehicles in the two-hour stoppage – by speeding up production in the week.

Bosses at MG Rover were also giving staff a morning break, while workers at the Land Rover factory in Solihull had to make do with live radio coverage of the match.

Even school pupils were being granted leave to watch the match – television sets were being provided to enable them to watch the match with their classmates. Witchford Village College, near Ely, Cambridgeshire, was one of the many education establishments that set up giant screens for its 800 pupils.

Several schools in Devon have decided to postpone the start of lessons so children can watch at home, including Teignmouth Community College and Paignton Community College.

Those drinking alcohol to celebrate or commiserate should consider carefully before driving to work, police warned. In one county, the number of drink-drive arrests doubled during the week that England and Ireland opened their World Cup campaigns.

Figures released by Cambridgeshire Police showed that between 31 May and 10 June, 51 drivers were arrested for failing breath tests during a drink-drive clampdown.

Even in prisons there was expected to be some leeway. Although no special arrangements were made, governors were said to be making "common sense" changes to allow inmates to watch the game.

Cells are usually unlocked about 8am, before inmates go to breakfast and work, which starts between 8.30am and 9am, meaning most prisoners would miss all or part of the match if the prison regime remained unchanged. A Prison Service source said: "I know one governor changed lunchtime by 15 minutes to allow prisoners to come back in from work and watch last week's Argentina game with their meals."