Two England Fans Arrested After Violent Clashes In Marseille

Two England fans have been arrested ahead of the opening game of Euro 2016, after a violent flare up in Marseille.

The BBC report that one man was arrested for assaulting a barman, while the other was detained on a charge of violent disorder. French police donned riot gear and used tear gas to disperse fans, after fighting broke out between groups of travelling England supporters and locals.

The worst of the clashes took place outside the Queen Victoria pub in the Old Port district. One England fan suffered a head injury after being hit in the head with a wooden chair.

Meanwhile, footage has emerged of a vicious fight outside a nearby McDonald's, as well as fans hurling chairs from nearby restaurants. During one brawl, a man can be seen being beaten with a belt or blunt instrument.

Chief Superintendent Steve Neill, who is in charge of England fan security in Marseille for the duration of the tournament, told BBC 5 Live: "About midnight last night there was confrontation between a group of local youths and some England supporters.

"Local police moved in very quickly and utilised some tear gas to disperse the local youths and close the pub.

"The use of tear gas seems quite dramatic to us from England and the United Kingdom because we are not used to seeing it, but in mainland Europe it is a regular tactic and they restored order fairly quickly."

#englandfans outside the Irish pub o'malleys in #Marseille chanting "no surrender to the IRA" Makes you so proud Not pic.twitter.com/wA37RxO4Fr
— Ben de Pear (@bendepear) June 10, 2016

Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters' Federation which runs the fans embassy in Marseille, told the BBC: "It's the police's job to prevent a confrontation and they used French methods to do so, which we're not particularly used to.

"They used tear gas, which is a little bit indiscriminate for my liking, but it did the job and the problems were over."

With England playing Russia at the Stade Vélodrome on Saturday evening, more fans will be arriving in Marseille over the next day or so. With police presumably reviewing footage, further arrests are likely to follow.