Hughes outraged by unfair treatment of Millwall FC fans

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 17th Aug 2009

Simon Hughes, MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, is pressing the Met Police to change their decision to reduce the number of tickets allocated to Millwall fans for the Carling Cup match against West Ham United later this month. He has written to the Borough Commander of Newham Police to express his frustration about this unfair and unreasonable decision and to ensure that the decision is changed.

Simon said "Millwall and West Ham management were in sensible discussions about ticket allocations and had come up with a reasonable solution of 3,000 in a separate stand from the home areas. It is completely unacceptable that the police have suddenly decided to halve the number of tickets to 1,500. Upton Park has a capacity of 35,000 and it is clearly unreasonable to allocate such a small number to Millwall fans.

In my letter to the Borough Commander, I have pointed out that decisions like these cause resentment and frustration with the authorities. The situation will be riskier as Millwall fans will obtain tickets in West Ham areas if there are not enough. This decision is short sighted and will lead to far more security problems in the long run. I am very clear that the decision should be changed. Millwall fans should be treated with dignity and respect. If this is not done immediately, I will meet with Newham Police and take the matter to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner if necessary. "