Three Burnley fans charged with breaching banning orders (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Three Burnley fans charged with breaching banning orders

11:31pm Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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THREE men have been charged after allegedly breaching football banning orders by visiting pubs near Turf Moor.

Philip Holmes, 48, of Avondale Road, Nelson, and Andrew Porter, 43, of Parliament Street, Burnley, are both charged with breach of a banning order.

Simon Massey, 45, of Bouworth Drive, Trawden, is charged with two breaches of his banning order.

Massey, a former catering worker, was banned from Turf Moor for life in 1990.

He was given a four year ban following trouble at Burnley's away match at Blackpool last March.

They were arrested by officers as part of a pre-planned policing operation codenamed Operation Fox.

They are all alleged to have breached their banning orders by visiting a pub in an area they are not allowed to enter on a match day.

The breaches are believed to have taken place on February 27 when Burnley played Portsmouth at Turf Moor.

Chief Inspector Jeff Brown said: “Burnley Football Club has a huge following and the vast majority of its fans are law-abiding people who pose us no problems whatsoever.

“However, there is a very small minority of individuals whose activities do concern us and these men are among them.

"All of them are already subject to banning orders and if they are found to have breached them the consequences could be very serious.”

“We want people of all ages to be able to come and enjoy a Burnley match in safety and we will not tolerate anyone who might compromise that by behaving in a violent or anti-social manner.

“These arrests are proof of our determination and ability to crackdown on football related disorder.”

He added: “Anyone involved in violent or anti-social behaviour should be under no illusions as to the firm action that will be taken.”