Updated: PART of York City centre had to be sealed off after football hooligans hurled bottles and barricaded themselves in a pub.

Shoppers and diners were trapped in shops and bars around St Helen’s Square as one of York’s biggest-ever deployments of riot police was brought in to deal with the trouble in Lendal Cellars.

The problems began on Saturday morning, several hours before York City’s pre-season friendly match against Hull City at Bootham Crescent.

Police said about 40 to 50 Hull fans arrived in York by train at about 10am and went straight to the Punchbowl pub, at the top of Micklegate.

As York City fans were already in the pub, officers directed the Hull City fans to another part of the city to find another pub in a bid to prevent disorder.

The Hull supporters then made their way across the river and took over Lendal Cellars.

About a dozen police vans descended on St Helen’s Square, which was littered with shards of broken glass, and large numbers of officers, accompanied by sniffer dogs, sealed off adjacent streets for the safety of the public.

Shoppers and diners were trapped in Harkers, Blacks, the Post Office, JD Sports and the Varsity bar, while hundreds of people watched from behind police tapes as the drama unfolded at about 10.30am.

Police stormed the pub and detained the supporters. Three men were arrested and dozens of riot police and armed officers later marched the rest of the chanting fans over Lendal Bridge, back to the railway station. The fans were escorted on to the 1.36pm train back to Hull and police manned the carriages to ensure no more trouble occurred on the train.

One eyewitness said: “I had just got back from town and it was chaos at that end of Coney Street. We got thrown out of Blacks by the police as they shut the surrounding shops down.

“I saw these hooligans walking down Station Rise, at least 50 of them, and it was obvious they were hellbent on trouble, drinking at 10am. They should have released tear gas in there.”

North Yorkshire Police, who arrested two men from Hull and one man from York for disorder offences, said the incident had been “dealt with robustly”.

Superintendent Lisa Winward said: “This was a pre-season friendly match and we had no indications that there would be any trouble ahead of the game.

“It is clear that there was a small minority who were determined to spoil the day for everyone else.

“Police took a firm, fair and friendly approach allowing those who wanted to enjoy the event in a friendly way to do so.”

No member of staff at Lendal Cellars was injured. Employees at the pub declined to comment.

Sophie Hicks, spokeswoman for York City Football Club, said: “This is a really unfortunate incident. We are not clear whether those involved were genuine football supporters, but we are very pleased to see that nobody associated with York City was involved.

“The game at Bootham Crescent was very peaceful and the 890 fans there from Hull were all immaculately behaved.”

She said York had played pre-season matches against teams such as Leeds United before without any such incidents.


Disorder condemned by Hull City Supporters Club

THE secretary of Hull City Official Supporters Club condemned the disorder caused by the football fans – saying their actions tarnished the club’s reputation.

Peter Lincoln, who has supported the Tigers for more than 50 years, said: “It’s a disgrace and I’m very disappointed. They are doing the club no favours and I can’t believe they are genuine supporters.

“We have a good reputation for good behaviour.

“We disown them. I don’t know if they are members of the supporters club, but we wouldn’t want that sort of person being a member either.

“We are there to support the Tigers, not to cause trouble.

“I’m surprised it’s happened and they are tarnishing the good reputation the club has got.”


Call for tough action against troublemakers

THE Archbishop of York and senior politicians have urged police to take robust action against the troublemakers who brought violence to York city centre.

Dr John Sentamu said: “I hope the police use CCTV to get hold of all those who committed crimes.” He said the troublemakers should be “brought to book” by being prosecuted.

York council leader Andrew Waller condemned those involved and urged police to send out a message that this kind of behaviour would not be tolerated in the city.

“I have been informed by the police to the background of this incident and what I have to say is that they must throw the book at the people who came to York with clear premeditated intentions to cause disorder in the city,” he said.

“A clear message must be sent that York will simply not tolerate this sort of behaviour which, although very rare, must have been extremely scary for people in the vicinity.

“I went to the Guildhall afterwards to speak to the people who had been in the building at the time of the incident happening next door at Lendal Cellars. It was obviously a frightening time for them.”

Coun Waller said he had been approached by Hull City Council leader Carl Minns to apologise on behalf of the people of Hull, who had been celebrating the return of the Round The World yacht fleet to the Humber at the same time as the trouble in York.

Coun Minns said: “It has brought shame on the city on what was a fantastic day here with the world’s eyes upon us.”

Coun James Alexander, York council’s Labour group leader, who watched the drama unfold from inside the Guildhall, said: “This alcohol-fuelled riot on a Saturday morning stopped Labour councillors from accessing the council for a scheduled meeting.

“I will be writing to Hull City Football club to express my anger at their fans stopping the work of the council and make then aware of the damage this does to York’s reputation. I thought such hooliganism was behind us and it is concerning, considering that only two days ago Labour backed funding for a new community stadium to house York City. I am pleased to say York City fans do not act like this.”