MORE than 700 known English football hooligans will be free to go to the World Cup despite a record number of travel bans being imposed, The Times has learnt.

When the tournament begins in June, football banning orders will be in force on 4,000 troublemakers who must surrender their passports for the duration.

But three-year bans on another 716 have lapsed and there is no evidence to justify renewing them. All 716 fans have been involved in violence at or near football grounds and the majority have convictions.

Britain is the only country with the power to stop troublesome fans from travelling to matches and other European countries are eager to copy the success of the 2000 Football (Disorder) Act.

A total of 877 banning orders will have expired by the start of the tournament on June 9. Home Office ministers promised to review them all and to impose new travel bans on those still thought to pose a risk.

Senior police sources have told The Times that that review led to new bans being sought on only 161 people.

The names and photographs of the 716 allowed to travel will be circulated to British police “spotters” at the tournament and to German officers.

Any who do travel will be closely monitored. And any suspected of planning to cause trouble could still be prevented from leaving Britain at the last minute.

A Home Office spokesman said: “In most cases, individuals cease to be a threat once subject to a banning order — they lose contact and status with their peer group, they move on and grow up. That’s why the number of individuals subject to follow-on banning orders is relatively few.”

Although fans with convictions cannot obtain tickets through the official England supporters club there is nothing to prevent them travelling to Germany with tens of thousands of ticketless fans.

While Government advice to English fans is that they should not travel without tickets, the authorities in some German cities have urged non-ticketholders to make the journey.

Achim Vandreike, the Mayor of Frankfurt, where England’s first game will be played, said on a recent visit to London that all fans were welcome to join his city’s “big party”.

The Football Association has been allocated only 5,300 tickets for the first England game, against Paraguay on June 10. But many fans buy blackmarket tickets and 15,000 English supporters are expected to be inside the stadium.

Legislation has been drafted to outlaw internet ticket touting but it may not be on the statute book by June.

The FA is monitoring unauthorised ticket sales and has reported 20 websites to FIFA, the game’s governing body, for further investigation.

The FA said: “Match tickets don’t physically exist at the moment and ticketholders are required to be able to prove their identity on matchday, so anyone buying on the black market runs the risk of being turned away from the game.”

A brisk trade in tickets is being conducted on eBay, the internet auction site. A seller in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, is offering two tickets for a quarter-final game that could involve England and bids have opened at £799.

A pair of tickets for another quarter-final has achieved a bid of £310.

Neither British nor German police expect serious incidents at any of England’s first-phase games. All have been categorised as low-risk; fans will not be segregated and alcohol will be on sale inside grounds.

If England qualify for the second phase of the tournament the risk of clashes increases significantly.

A fixture against Poland or Germany would be seen as a potential flashpoint.

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