A CRACKDOWN on pubs illegally showing Blackburn Rovers matches live on TV is being launched amid fears that they are knocking thousands off home gates.

Landlords are being warned that they face fines of up to £5,000 and having their licences revoked if they broadcast games from foreign stations during the new season, which kicks off tomorrow.

Rovers chairman John Williams has contacted the town's MP Jack Straw to express concern that the practice may be affecting attendances at Ewood Park, which have fallen by an average of almost 5,000 over the past four seasons.

And Mr Straw has written to Alastair Darling, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, calling for action.

Today Blackburn police and the FA Premier League said they would be stepping up their enforcement of the law and sending out letters to pubs.

During the last few seasons, pubs have gone from being cautious about screening Premiership games from foreign channels to blatantly promoting the service, according to the Blackburn Licensed Victuallers' Association (LVA), which represents landlords.

One pub close to Ewood Park is even believed to have advertised the service with a cheeky sign telling fans not to pay £25 to watch the game, but to see it for free inside.

The FA Premier League has an exclusive deal with Sky television to screen live games in Britain.

But it also signs up to deals allowing foreign stations to show games in their countries.

With pubs signing up to various foreign TV stations, which each show different games, fans can see the majority of Rovers games by rotating where they drink on match days.

However showing the matches is a breach of copyright, a civil offence that carries a £5,000 fine.

In addition, under the new Licensing Act, landlords can lose their licence if convicted of such an offence.

Mr Straw's letter said: "Mr Williams is concerned at the effect of football attendances of public houses broadcasting Saturday afternoon matches via foreign TV channels."

Geoff Sutcliffe, treasurer of the LVA, said the majority of pubs in the area now screened the games, despite warnings from the LVA that it was illegal.

He believes the practice will only stop when someone is punished as he said it appeared there was no deterrent to screening the games, which can help the pubs pull in extra customers.

But there appears to be widespread misunderstanding among landlords about the rules.

The Adelphi pub in Blackburn Boulevard is advertising that it is showing Blackburn's first game, away to Portsmouth tomorrow.

Landlady Lynn Balshaw said: "It is a very grey area and I don't really know what the rules are.

"We had the games through on Arabic channel last year and we think we have that again for this season.

"It is pretty popular, especially for away games.

"I cannot see how it is affecting Rovers' gates. If they lowered their ticket prices a lot more people would go to the game. They'd rather watch it live than in a pub."

But LVA treasurer Mr Sutcliffe, landlord of the Rising Sun in Brownhill, said he could understand Rovers' concerns.

He added: "It will be affecting gates. But I cannot blame the public for watching it for free. It is something the football people have created themselves with high ticket prices to pay for the players' wages.

"It is definitely a growing trend. I don't have the channels myself but from talking to people I would say that the majority pubs, particularly the larger ones now have it."

Average attendances at Rovers have fallen from 25,981 in 2001/2 to 21,015 last season.

Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson said the problem occurred throughout the country and added: "Some of the information that is given to pubs is quite misleading but quite simply it is illegal and where we get information we will take action. We have already prosecuted more than 100 venues over the past 18 months."

PC Andy Duxbury, a licensing officer for Blackburn police, said that every pub in the town had been sent a letter warning them about the practice.