POLICE have ordered the removal of pro-hooligan and anti-Blackburn Rovers material from a computer web site run by so-called Burnley fans. The authors of the Longside Loyalist internet pages were reprimanded after they threatened to publish the names and addresses of Rovers fans and "show them the error of their ways". The shocking pages, titled "Bastard Watch", have been removed after they were uncovered by the Citizen.

The web site - accessible to computer users of all ages worldwide - also contained an article on the "glory years" of football violence, and a declaration of allegiance to Loyalist groups in Ulster.

The pages were dedicated to members of the "famous Burnley suicide squad", a cell of violent soccer thugs in the 1980s.

Inspector Dave Holden of Burnley police said: "We have spoken to the site operator after consulting the Crown Prosecution Service and we have advised him to remove the offending items.

"We will continue to monitor this and other web-sites in the locality. We will be vigilant."

The cleaned-up web site now carries the message: "Sadly our most popular page has fallen victim to dubious threats of prosecution by the CPS . . . So for the foreseeable future Bastard Watch has had to be suspended."

It continues: "Forget the grannies being beaten up, forget the children being sexually abused let's clamp down on freedom of speech, let's clamp down on the people who say what the majority of Burnley fans agree with, let's stop this here Bastard Watch Page instead."

And the "editors" invite any lawyers interested in helping them mount a legal challenge to the police threat to get in touch and take up "the gallant cause."

Insp Holden added: "The internet has its uses but it also has its drawbacks. Everyone is entitled to free speech, but when that infringes other people's liberty, it must be stopped."

The webmaster of another Clarets web site, who didn't want to be named, told us: "We all like a bit of fun at the expense of Rovers fans, but this was going too far. Web sites like this just give real Clarets fans a bad name all over the world."

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