POLICE today revealed that 17 suspected soccer hooligans from East Lancashire have been deported or arrested in Belgium.

The National Criminal Intelligence Service has been working closely with Belgian police in the wake of the mass deportations of hooligans.

Following the outbreaks of violence during Euro 2000 centred around Brussels and Charleroi a total of 921 English fans were arrested and 464 deported.

Most of the violence took place before and after the crunch game with Germany on Saturday. Police praised the behaviour of England's fans after the national team were dumped out of the tournament last night. The suspected hooligans who were deported were flown back in Belgium military aircraft and have all arrived back in the country.

All the football fans deported and arrested in Belgium will be visited by local police and a decision will be taken on whether their names should be added to a national database.

Anyone whose name appears on the list faces being banned from football stadiums in this country and from travelling to future international tournaments.

Mark Steels, the NCIS spokesman, said: "Everyone of the 921 will get a visit from local police officers.

"They will be interviewed and given information on how to get their belongings back from Belgium if they left any behind when they were deported.

"A decision will be taken at a later date if any of those arrested or deported need to be placed on the national data base."

A total of ten England supporters from Blackburn were arrested or deported from Brussels and Charleroi. Most were picked up for drunkenness and disorder offences and were aged between 21 and 41.

A 29-year-old man from Darwen was also deported along with six men from Burnley who are all aged between 19 and 31.