TWO men were set to appear before Blackburn magistrates today on charges relating to alleged racist abuse of soccer star Dwight Yorke.

David Ashcroft, 21, of Leyland and Jason Perryman, 22, of Chorley, voluntarily attended Blackburn police station at 4pm yesterday after a nationwide media appeal for them to come forward.

They were interviewed by DI Simon Giles and DS Gary Dunnagan and were charged with racially aggravated public order offence.

They were released on bail and were due to appear at Blackburn magistrates court at 10am today.

The officers had met former Rovers player Dwight Yorke earlier in the day at the Birmingham City training ground after he issued a formal complaint to the police.

Yorke alleged he had been abused by two Rovers fans and was subjected to monkey taunts as he warmed up during the match between Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City at Ewood Park on Sunday. He said he was upset at the reaction of a small section of the Rovers crowd during the 3-3 draw.

The incident came just days after racist abuse and "monkey chants" were levelled at England players in their clash with Spain and has caused controversy among Rovers fans who have said the name of the club has been tarnished by the alleged actions of just a handful of fans.

Inspector Stuart Bruce of Lancashire Police said the behaviour of Rovers fans in general over the years had been extremely good.