£1.1m police soccer bill

Football clubs are spending more than £1m to police matches in the West Midlands - a record high figure for the region.

One single game between Aston Villa and Arsenal landed the home club with a bill from West Midlands Police of more than £83,000.

And more than 250 officers were involved in keeping fans from Wolves and Cardiff apart in a game which descended into violence, brought 17 arrests and landed the club with a £30,000 bill.

Aston Villa spent almost £350,000 last season to pay for policing and the amount paid to police by West Midlands clubs exceeded £1.1million in the year.

Senior officers would like the amount to increase even further to reflect the use of scores of police to quell trouble away from the grounds.

Albion spokesman John Simpson said: "We sit down with the police at the start of each season and continue to work with them throughout the campaign so that costs are kept to a minimum."

West Midlands Police spokesman Steve Garey said: "The level of policing at any match is decided by the home club and police who carry out a risk assessment to reach a decision on the category of the fixture and the appropriate policing.

"Factors include the previous history of matches between clubs and current football intelligence.

"Police and football clubs enjoy a good working relationship."

Wolves, Villa and Blues all refused to comment today.

EXCLUSIVE By Crime Correspondent Mike Woods

Get in-depth analysis of the bill, including the 10 most expensive games for your club, in today's Express & Star