Crime prevention minister James Brokenshire has begged England fans to behave well during the forthcoming World Cup - while taking drastic steps to stop the worst football hooligans getting to South Africa.

With the 2018 World Cup bid underway the government is doing everything it can to ensure rowdy England fans do not give the country a bad name.

Mr Brokenshire said he wanted fans to be "sensible" and "behave themselves". He urged them to "do their country proud" while encouraging them to have a "great time".

"It is now ten years since the last major hooligan incident abroad, but the eyes of the world will still be upon England supporters. We want them to be ambassadors for their country," the minister added.

The British authorities are doing everything they can to ensure football's worst troublemakers are kept away from the upcoming tournament.

Around 3,000 supporters with football banning orders have been forced to hand their passports to police this week, in addition to another 9,000 already banned from football tournaments.

The South African government is clearly aware of the reputation of Britain's fans. Its memorandum of understanding with Britain outlining the way the two countries will work together is the only one it bothered with ahead of the World Cup.

(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

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(Agencies)