THE Prime Minister's former chief of spin, Alastair Campbell, has thrown his weight behind police efforts to stamp out football hooliganism in Burnley.

Clarets fan Mr Campbell, who quit his job as director of communications at Number 10 last month, voiced his support for Burnley police's Operation Fixture after being contacted by Chief Inspector Richard Morgan, the man leading the fight against football thugs.

He said: "When Chief Inspector Morgan contacted me I was keen to show my support. Being a keen Burnley fan I understand the impact the behaviour of these hooligans has on the majority of decent people who support their team. The minority undermine the well being of the club and the wider community.

"It is great to see the police taking innovative and positive action to reduce the threat these people pose to the game and the town centre. The increase in arrests and banning orders has been outstanding and proves a real commitment by Burnley Police to get to grips with the problem."

Figures released last month showed Burnley recorded the second highest number of arrests in the first division, behind Nottingham Forest, and officers said the rise was due to the success of Operation Fixture.

The total number of those arrested at league and cup games rose from 45 in the 2001-2002 season to 130 last season. The figures for last season include arrests for breaching of banning orders.

Burnley also came 9th out of all the clubs in the country, a table topped by Manchester United with 186 arrests.

Currently 48 people are banned from Turf Moor by magistrates with a further ten cases going through the courts.