Ticket touts who harass fans on their way to matches are targets at the UK’s first match day exclusion zone around a football ground.
Anyone suspected of touting tickets within half-a-mile of Chelsea Football Club’s (CFC) Stamford Bridge home will be ordered to leave and not return for 24 hours. Any tout who returns before that deadline, or is caught selling a ticket, will be arrested.
In west London, Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council has teamed up with the Metropolitan Police to introduce the dispersal zone after residents and fans complained about aggressive touts following people along the street.
The exclusion zone went live on Sunday, October 28 – when Manchester United visited the Blues – until the end of the season.
Chelsea FC’s success in recent years, including winning the Champions League in the summer, has led touts to try to cash in on demand. Fans are often lured into paying over the odds, but for forged or stolen tickets.
According to the council it is common for at least 30 ticket touts to operate around Fulham Broadway and North End Road before a CFC home game and residents have complained about disturbances in the street. Some 22 of CFC’s 30 home games last season suffered significant problems caused by ticket touts.
Greg Smith, H&F Council Deputy Leader, said: “Touts prey on fans enthusiasm for their teams by using aggressive and underhand tactics to flog dodgy tickets at vastly inflated prices. We are targeting the touts looking to make a quick buck by introducing Britain’s first dispersal zone around any football ground. Touts caught selling tickets will be arrested. Anyone suspected of touting will be told to leave.
“The message is clear – tout and you are out.”
The authorities add that touting can lead to a breakdown in the segregation between home and away supporters inside the ground – triggering security problems for stewards and police.
H&F Police Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Lucy D’Orsi, said: “Ticket touts are part of organised criminal networks, often involved in other crimes. In Hammersmith & Fulham we are committed to working in partnership to dismantle them layer by layer using all the tools available.”
The zone extends from Lillie Road in the north to New Kings Road in the south and from Munster Road in the west to the borough boundary in the east. It will remain until April 28, 2013.
H&F is the only borough in Britain with three top-flight football teams (CFC, Fulham and QPR). If the Stamford Bridge zone works separate zones could be introduced around those grounds, Craven Cottage and Loftus Road, if required.
