THREE men are due to appear in court charged with violent disorder following racially-motivated trouble in Burnley town centre after England's opening World Cup match.

Kieron McCallion, 31, of Dalton Street, Burnley; Andrew Emmett, 29, of Reed Street, Burnley, and Russell Moorhouse, 34, of Ridge Avenue, Burnley, were all arrested yesterday.

The arrests followed an appeal for information and pictures of the suspected troublemakers published in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph last Thursday.

All three men will appear before Burnley magistrates on Wednesday morning charged with violent disorder.

A fourth man, a juvenile, was also arrested and has been released on police bail pending further inquiries. Police said further arrests are expected in the next few days.

Police appealed for calm after a group of about 40 people caused trouble following the England-Sweden clash on Sunday, June 2.

People smashed up taxis and assaulted drivers in what police described as racially motivated violence.

Police said a group of 40 people who had been in Paradise Island, Bull Street, made their way to Croft Street and attacked taxi drivers at about 5pm.

The taxis were all parked near the bus station when people approached them and started punching, kicking and jumping on to vehicles, police said.

The incident lasted for a matter of minutes and is being treated as racially motivated after a number of racist chants were heard.

In a second incident minutes later, police dispersed two gangs of white men fighting at the junction of Manchester Road and St James Street.

DS Peter Simm of Burnley Police said: "We have arrested four men in connection with the disorder in Burnley town centre after the Sweden game and have charged three of them.

"We had a good response from members of the public after the appeal for information in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and we are expecting to make more arrests later this week."