Tony Blair today warned that the violent clashes between fans and police in Marseilles could endanger England's bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

But even as he was branding England's hooligans a "total disgrace", they fought running battles with Tunisian supporters this afternoon.

England fans, who were on one side of a wide tree-lined road, charged at Tunisian fans throwing bottles. The Tunisian fans responded and moved closer to the English.

"None of this helps, does it? It is important that it stops now and that these people realise they undermine the whole country," he said.

"They don't do anything for the morale of the team, quite frankly, who want to concentrate on the match and the vast bulk of the country wants to get behind the English team to give them every support and put on a good show for England. And we really should be able to do that."

Football Association chief executive Graham Kelly condemned the "disgusting" behaviour of England fans but pledged that the disturbances would not be allowed to spoil the World Cup for the country.

He told a news conference in Marseille: "Nobody is making excuses, I know that those English people were drunk, they were disgusting, and I didn't want to be down there."

Fans from York were among the first to be arrested in France as a weekend of rioting and clashes with police marred the preparations for England's opening match against Tunisia today.

They were arrested by police in Calais along with fans from London and Birmingham even before yesterday's clashes between fans and police in Marseille.

The drunken supporters spent a night in police cells in Calais after becoming involved in brawls and vandalism.

Calais police spokesman Thierry Choquet said 11 people were arrested, charged with damaging property, and summonsed to appear before magistrates in Boulogne in September.

York Police said today that information on known hooligans had already been passed on to the National Criminal Intelligence Unit, which was liaising with the French police.

Meanwhile, the people of Marseille were today clearing up after a night of chaos which turned their city centre into a battlefield.

Several hundred England followers last night fought pitched battles with Tunisian fans, local youths and police during seven hours of violence which left 32 people injured.

Two Britons required operations for serious injuries, one for a slashed throat and the other for a knife wound to the stomach.

Jean-Charles Samoun, whose Vieux Port bar was at the centre of the riot, said: "They have turned the party into a battlefield.''

see COMMENT Stamp out this hooliganism

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