BURY FC expect to round up their band of racist hooligan supporters within weeks.

The Gigg Lane outfit is waging war on the 'mindless minority' of its own fans, who have verbally abused, spat at and even assaulted Shakers players and their families.

The club's 'true fans' have been called on to name and shame the perpetrators, while stewards and CCTV cameras will closely monitor the crowd during Saturday's home clash with Leyton Orient.

Manager Andy Preece thrust the issue into the public eye after suffering at the hands of the boo boys at Torquay last week.

But co-chairman Fred Mason claimed the net had been closing in on the notorious group for months.

"We have not been lax about this situation. We have been working on catching these people for months," he said.

"We know we have a problem and have been tracking them, particularly away from home. Unfortunately, the CCTV cameras weren't working at Torquay.

"But we will continue to be diligent and there's no doubt, we will catch them. We already have a string of fans who have practically identified them for us and we should catch them within a couple of weeks."

While Preece and midfielder Chris Billy appear to be the obvious targets, even Welshman Glyn Garner and the club's white players have suffered at the hands of the notorious Bury mob.

"Players' girlfriends have been spat at and one of the players' brothers was beaten up by these guys - and he was a white lad, so it's not just racism. It's just absolute thuggery," said Preece.

"It's not something I've suffered personally and I was only made fully aware of the situation this week but apparently they are making life terrible for fans at away games.

"What is really annoying is that they were shouting racial abuse at Torquay with stewards just yards away and they did nothing about it. That can't carry on.

"These people must be handed over to the police. They are just hooligans masquerading as Bury fans, who are out for trouble.

"It's getting to the point where it actually may stop players from joining this club. We're not saying don't criticise us. That's part of the game and we expect that. But this is really over the top.

"I expect a major positive reaction from our home fans this weekend. We will have people on the ground and all the CCTV cameras we've got watching for any trouble. We will root them out."