BLACKBURN police were today travelling to Birmingham to interview Dwight Yorke over an alleged racist incident against the football star.

Blackburn Rovers bosses met with police at the Ewood Park ground yesterday after the allegations, following Blackburn Rovers' clash with Birmingham City on Sunday.

Chief Superintendent David Mallaby, the area divisional manager for Blackburn police, today said any allegations of a racist nature were treated extremely seriously by Lancashire Police.

He added: "An officer is this morning going to Birmingham to see Dwight Yorke to get a first hand account of what happened."

Blackburn Rovers handed the investigation to police who launched a criminal investigation after viewing CCTV footage at the club - despite no official complaint being made, meaning the outcome of the incident could lie with Dwight Yorke.

Club bosses - including Chief Executive John Williams, secretary Tom Finn and stadium safety manager John Newsham - sat down yesterday with Ch Supt Mallaby and the Detective Inspector Simon Giles who is overseeing the investigation.

Police have begun to track down witnesses to the alleged incident with the help of the club but today said it was too early to estimate how long the investigation would take.

A statement issued by Blackburn Rovers said: "We would like to stress that this was an isolated incident and that we deeply regret any embarrassment caused to Dwight Yorke and the Birmingham City Football Club.

"Over the years the club has worked tirelessly to eliminate racism, working in close connections with organisations such as Kick It Out - and we want to be quite clear that racism will not be tolerated at Ewood Park."

Det Insp Simon Giles added: "We will be getting statements from a number of key people over the next couple of days and we would urge anyone who was in the vicinity or saw anything to contact Blackburn police." Birmingham's plc chairman David Sullivan has come in for widespread criticism after voicing his opinion that the affair has been "blown out of all proportion" and claiming Yorke could have moved to another part of the ground. But Gold said: "It's easy to say we could all just walk away from an issue, but we don't. I think that Dwight handled it the best way he could. We're hoping now, with the evidence that appears to be available, that these people will be captured."