World Cup Patrols

8 June 2010, 06:00

Extra police officers will be patrolling town centres in Cambridgeshire during the World Cup.

During the last tournament in 2006, there was an increase in the number of violent crime and public order offences in Cambridgeshire.

From June 9th 2006 to July 9th, there were 1,158 offences, compared to 1,047 for the same period in 2005.

Saturdays were highlighted as a peak time for the increase in incidents, with an average of 58 offences per day across the county.

On July the 1st, when England went out of the tournament to Portugal, there were 80 offences.

To try and prevent similar statistics this year, officers will be visiting pubs and bars to make sure they are not serving alcohol to anyone who already appears drunk.

Also, if officers believe someone could be about to commit a crime or cause disorder, they can remove people from a certain area for 48 hours.

They will also confiscate alcohol from anyone under age.

Superintendent Nick Knight said: "We want everyone who goes out to watch a match during this World Cup to do so without fear of violence or disorder.

Officers will provide a friendly presence and we hope people enjoy watching the games but we will not tolerate anti-social or illegal behaviour.

We are working with pubs to make sure people do not drink too much alcohol and officers will take action to nip potential problems in the bud."

Meanwhile, 26 Cambridgeshire residents have had to hand in their passports to a police station after becoming the subjects of football banning orders.

Police will hold their travel documents for the duration of the tournament, regardless of how successful England are.

Each person is also required to report to a police station every day England play.

18 of these people live in Peterborough, two in March, two in Huntingdon and four in Cambridge.