Hooligans to be stopped from travelling to Euro 2016

Up to 2,000 known football hooligans across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be prevented from travelling to Euro 2016.

It is part of a crackdown aimed at helping the French authorities concentrate on keeping the event safe from terrorism.

Having suffered two major terrorist attacks in the past 12 months, French security officials are concerned about the potential of attacks during the tournament.

In November, suicide bombers detonated devices outside the Stade de France in Paris during an international friendly between France and Germany.

It was part of a co-ordinated attack on the French capital, where terrorists also targeted bars, restaurants and a music venue, leaving 130 people dead.

France is still under a state of emergency, which has now been extended until at least the end of May.

French police are holding regular meetings with colleagues from the UK and other European nations as they attempt to plan for a worst case scenario of coping with widespread crowd trouble, while trying to provide anti-terrorist policing around the tournament.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the national lead for football policing in England and Wales, said forces across the country would begin operations in the coming months to ensure those fans that have been issued with banning orders are prevented from crossing the Channel.

He said: "I think with this tournament being in France we're likely to see a lot more fans travelling to this particular competition than to previous ones.

"So it's going to be a major operation, significantly bigger than we've seen for a number of years.

"At any one time, we've got about 2,000 people on a banning order and those are people we really don't want travelling because of their past behaviour.

"So there will be a comprehensive operation in the run-up to the tournament to really try to ensure that those people cannot travel to France.

"The focus of the French authorities is going to be keeping people safe. We will do everything we can to support that operation.

"We're one of the few countries that has legislative powers to stop people who cause trouble at football matches from travelling abroad, so we'll make a very strong contribution to that effort."