ANTI-hooligan officers are to visit Nottingham to warn off thugs before the first visit of Nottingham Forest to Burnley since the tragic death of Nathan Shaw last year.

Teams of officers will travel to the Midlands town to tell known troublemakers not to come to Burnley for the match on September 16.

The visits are part of police preparations for the game, which will also include monitoring hooligan activity on websites.

Nathan, 17, was killed in Burnley town centre when he was hit on the head with a bottle as he made his way to the Burnley v Nottingham Forest match at Turf Moor at the end of last year. Andrew McNee, of Rossendale, was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to manslaughter earlier this year. Chief Inspector Richard Morgan said there would be no respite in the battle against hooligans.

He said: "Officers will travel to Nottingham before the game to visit the main offenders and to warn them not to attend Burnley. If they do they will be arrested.

"We want to reassure the footballing public and make sure people can enjoy the match.

"Violent behaviour of any description will not be tolerated."

He added that troublemakers from Burnley could also expect a visit in the run up to the Nottingham Forest match.

Police say Operation Fixture, Burnley Police's clampdown on hooligans, is now so successful it is being looked at by other forces across the country.

Senior officers from Nottinghamshire Police have visited Burnley and are considering introducing their own version of the scheme. Chief Insp Morgan has given talks to the National Criminal Intelligence Service on Fixture and will give a talk later this month to the National Match Commanders conference in Berkshire.

Figures released last month showed Burnley recorded the second highest number of arrests in the first division, behind Nottingham Forest, and officers said the rise was due to the success of Operation Fixture.

The total number of those arrested at league and cup games rose from 45 in the 2001-2002 season to 130 last season. The figures for last season include arrests for breaching of banning orders.

Burnley also came 9th out of all the clubs in the country, a table topped by Manchester United with 186 arrests.

Currently 48 people are banned from Turf Moor by magistrates with a further ten cases going through the courts.

Home Office records show that at Ewood Park 25 people were arrested during the 2002-2003 season, one more than the previous year.