£10,000 cut from policing bill for Wolves match marred by violence
A £20,000 bill for policing a controversial Wolves match that was marred by violence has been slashed in half.
Port Vale Football Club were originally ordered to shell out £20,509 in policing costs after a trouble flared throughout the day of the club's home game with Wolves last year.
But they will now pay £10,936 after Staffordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis agreed to cut the bill. Thirteen Wolves fans were among 34 people arrested before, during and after the match on August 31 as trouble broke out around the Vale Park stadium.
Officials at Port Vale had originally classed the match as 'Category B', meaning a reduced number of officers were on duty, but it was subsequently re-classified as the higher risk 'Category C'.
This meant the club was charged at the higher rate, but chairman Norman Smurthwaite contested the bill after insisting the bulk of the incidents took place away from the stadium.
Now Mr Ellis, who was highly critical of the police for their handling of the match, decided to reduce the figure after examining an internal police report.
He said: " "This has been a highly complex situation and, having taken into account all aspects of it, I've made the decision that the club only pays the costs originally stated by Staffordshire Police for the lower category game.
"In addition, I have asked the Chief Constable to update procedures around the way contractual and financial arrangements for policing football matches are made. In future there is to be greater rigour around the pre and post-match engagement with football clubs and in relation to the financial contract arrangements."
The new procedures include: Where a match is to be raised from a lower category to a higher category more formal communication between the police and the football club must take place as early as possible in relation to agreeing increased charges.
