Police responsible for Euro 2000 security at England venues are taking important steps to prevent any violent scenes.

Authorities in the UK and throughout Europe have been liasing with those in Holland and Belgium to help with preparations against any potential Hooligans.

Home Office Minister Lord Bassam has been out to Eindhoven, Holland, and Charleroi, Belgium, to monitor the preparations, he said: 'I have spoken at length to the mayor and the police commissioners there and they are taking very robust steps indeed to deal with any potential problems.'

'Of course it's impossible to screen out absolutely everything. What I am confident of is that they are going to be making every effort possible and it's a very sophisticated operation that they are putting in place.'

The government are urging fans with out tickets not to travel to games in an attempt to avoid the violence that flared up two years ago at the World Cup in France.

A Euro 2000 information card has also been produced by the government to aid fans that are traveling to the championships.

'It's really about helping people when they are there that they have got good quality advice and that they can access people who can help them, like the Football Supporters Association,' said Lord Bassam.

'I think I would be concerned if there were a large number of people going to both Belgium and Holland during the course of the festival of football if they didn't have tickets for the matches.'