A new zero-tolerance crackdown on “intolerable" treatment of referees has been promised across professional football next season in an attempt to finally end the culture of abuse at every level of the national game.

The Premier League, the Football League and the Football Association announced yesterday that elite officials would be instructed to take a far stricter approach if they are subjected to dissent, intimidation and physical contact from players or managers.

It follows a series of high-profile incidents in the Premier League last season, notably the aggressive behaviour of Jamie Vardy and Diego Costa, but also the Telegraph’s Refereeing in Crisis investigation.