ALMOST 70 people across Lancashire have been banned from travelling before the start of the World Cup.

Under the terms of these orders the majority must surrender their passports before the start of the tournament to prevent them travelling.

This comes as the county's police force and the police and crime commissioner, Clive Grunshaw, have urged fans to enjoy the tournament safely.

Superintendent Julian Platt said: "We want people to enjoy the World Cup responsibly and the vast majority of people will do that.

"But I want to reassure our communities that any crime linked with the World Cup, be that domestic abuse, alcohol induced violence or drink or drug driving will simply not be tolerated.

"Great progress has been made in combating racism and discrimination in football over recent years through a strong partnership between all those involved with the game.

"But we know that hate crimes are motivated not only by race but by hostility or prejudice against an identifiable group such as religion, sexual orientation, transgender, disability, age or gender.

"We are committed to tackling all incidents and crimes motivated by hostility and prejudice and we would urge anyone who has been a victim of a hate incident or crime to have the confidence to come forward and report it to police.

"We understand that people will want to drink alcohol while watching the games but we would urge people to drink responsibly and of course drinking or taking drugs when driving is unacceptable.

"Our efforts to catch those responsible will continue in a bid to make our roads safer.

"Just one drink or drug driver on the roads of Lancashire is always one too many.

Posters and banners have been displayed to highlight three key areas of crime that are often associated with major sporting tournaments: domestic abuse, alcohol related violence and drink or drug driving.

Mr Grunshaw said: "Domestic abuse is unacceptable and stopping it requires society as a whole to take a stand against it.

"We know that over 90per cent of incidents are witnessed by children so the awareness raised through campaigns like this plays an important role in encouraging and supporting people to take that first step."