14 fans arrested

About 200 rioters, many of them English soccer fans, clashed with police in southern Portugal early yesterday.

Fourteen people were arrested and 16 injured in Albufeira, authorities said. Officers from the GNR paramilitary force, some on horseback, intervened after fighting broke out in an area of bars and clubs frequented by British holidaymakers.

The running battles lasted around two hours as police were pelted with bottles and chairs.

Four of the injured remained in hospital, one with a broken hand, said Assuncao Martinez, head of the area's health administration. None of the injuries were serious.

Police in Albufeira said 12 of those arrested were Britons, one Russian and one Portuguese.

"It started with arguments between football fans who had been drinking a lot, and between fans and bar owners in various points in the area," GNR spokesman Manuel Jorge said.

"At around 1.30 a.m. police felt it necessary to go in force to restore order."

Yesterday's unrest was the first serious disturbance.

One English fan, Adam Sibley from Peterborough, said the Portuguese police over-reacted.

"There was a bit of trouble with a French fan who had a German flag wrapped round him but that calmed down. It was when they started to try to clear the bars that it all went off.

"We were running away down the street and some spotter jumped on my mate and took him away. I suppose he will be sent home," he told Reuters.

British police have supplied officers, called "spotters", who can pick out known hooligans.