The football fan who invaded the pitch of a Premier League match and planted a corner flag in the centre circle can be identified by MailOnline as a respectable businessman who has voluntarily handed himself into police.

Travel operator Paul Colborne, 61, brought the match between West Ham United and Burnley at the London Stadium to a standstill when he ran from his seat and rammed the flag into the pitch as astonished players looked on.

Mr. Colborne’s actions were seen by millions on television around the world and have helped plunge the London club, who play their home matches at the stadium which hosted the 2012 Olympics, into a crisis.

The West Ham fan who planted a corner flag in the centre circle vs Burnley can be identified

Travel operator Paul Colborne, 61, brought the match to a standstill when he ran onto the pitch

Mr Colborne, who has attended games for 49 years, now admits he regrets the pitch invasion

Hundreds of fans taunted the club’s directors David Sullivan, David Gold, and Karren Brady, and the match descended into chaos as other fans ran onto the pitch, with one being grappled by West Ham’s captain Mark Noble.

Mr Colborne, speaking exclusively to MailOnline on Monday, said he regretted the incident but said it was a spur-of-the-moment response to his anger at the club’s owners since West Ham invited bulldozers in to demolish Upton Park which had been the club’s home for 112 years.

He said: 'I have been going to see West Ham home and away for 49 years and have seen more than 2,000 games.

‘I hadn’t planned anything, but I just felt I had to do something. You have to stand up for what you believe in. People have died and been put against a wall for what they believe in.’

Mr. Colborne’s actions were part of a chaotic day of protests against the West Ham owners

Mr Colborne said it was a spur-of-the-moment response to his anger at the club’s owners

He said he had been an opponent of the move in 2016 from Upton Park to the London Stadium, but had been won over by promises by the club that the team would be successful and Champions League football was the target.

Instead, West Ham have spent almost the entire season in the bottom half of the Premier League, suffered their third straight defeat on Saturday, and have been plunged into a relegation dogfight.

He said: ‘I had to do something. I wasn’t being violent, but I couldn’t take it anymore when Burnley went 2-0 up.

‘I got out of my seat in the Bobby Moore stand and climbed over the fence, got the flag and walked towards the centre circle.’

Mr Colborne, who attends games with his son, said he was angry at broken promises to fans

Mr Colborne, of Welwyn Garden City, denies being a 'thug' and says it was a peaceful protest

As he proceeded to place the flag on the centre spot, West Ham’s Welsh international defender James Collins, who is affectionately known as ‘Ginger Pele’ by the team’s supporters, approached him.

Mr Colborne said: ‘James Collins came up and said “What are you doing?” I said “You’ve been here 15 years Ginge, I love you, but I have been here 49 years” and eventually I put the thing into the centre spot. James Collins was real nice and really reasonable.’

A few minutes before West Ham captain Mark Noble was filmed grappling with another protesting supporter who fell to the ground. Both incidents are part of a major inquiry by West Ham United and Premier League chiefs.

Hundreds of angry fans converged under the director’s seats to shout abuse and vent their frustration and Mr Sullivan is reported to have been hit by a flying coin.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has slammed the outbursts and called for a thorough investigation.

West Ham defender James Collins confronts Colborne, who said the player was 'reasonable'

The club faces a hefty fine and being forced to play remaining home matches behind closed doors and without supporters inside the 66,000-capacity seater stadium.

Mr Colborne, of Welwyn Garden City, said his corner flag protest was a ‘symbolic gesture’ and inspired by a similar demonstration which took place at West Ham 25 years ago.

In a match against Everton at Upton Park, a West Ham fan seized the corner flag and rammed it into the centre circle to protest against a bond scheme which had been proposed which would have forced supporters to fork out twice - once for a bond and then for a season ticket. The scheme was shelved after huge opposition from fans.

Eventually he was escorted from the pitch after what he called his 'symbolic gesture'

Mr Colborne, who attends games with his teenage son, said: ‘I hope what I did will galvanise the fans, but unfortunately for me I have to face the consequences.

‘I believe the Metropolitan police will arrest me because when I gave myself in to Hatfield police station on Sunday, they said a criminal investigation was going on.

‘I am also worried and found it scary when the police said West Ham would be bringing a civil case against me. If they get fined say £30,000 they could come after me and I won’t be able to pay, but mine was a symbolic gesture. That was all I was trying to do.

‘I am a very worried man now. I don’t want people to say that I am a mindless thug and that the flag was an offensive weapon. That is rubbish.

‘Encroaching on the field of play is a criminal offence, but I am worried that they were going to link it all with those people who were semi-violent. I want to be dealt with as a separate entity which I believe it is.’

He said he has handed himself into police, and is worried about West ham bringing a civil case

He added: ‘I do regret what I did. But it happened out of desperation. Even the steward who led me away said “ I agree with you mate…fair play to you”, but he took my season ticket from me.

‘What worried me more was they said West Ham would be making a civil court case against me and I find that really scary.

‘Mine was supposed to be a peaceful symbolic protest or gesture that we fans can’t take this anymore.’

He said he and many West Ham fans are angered at being re-housed in the athletics-designed stadium and claim there has been a lack of investment in top class players.

There were other protests, with one fan who came on the pitch grappled by Mark Noble

‘They have lied. I hate the stadium but the carrot from them was that we would have a half-decent team. Instead we have got a horrible stadium and a team that hasn’t delivered anything.

‘We play reserves in the FA Cup. Against Wigan which is a third-tier team, they were the favourites and they beat us. The thousands of supporters who pay good hard-earned money do not deserve to be treated like that.’

West Ham United are set to bolster security and police numbers for the remaining five matches at the London Stadium. The club pledged a ‘full and thorough investigation’ into Saturday’s disturbances.

Mark Noble said: ‘The atmosphere was horrible. We know a lot of it isn't aimed at the players, but we have to be man enough to play in that atmosphere.

"I'm really hoping the fans have got it off their chest. They are a true, honest and passionate bunch of people. I'm hoping that they have had their outburst, because all that matters is staying in the Premier League.'