WILTSHIRE Police say that there is still work to do to improve fan behaviour at football games despite a reduction in arrests across League One.

The home office released their statistics on football-related arrests and banning orders issued in the 2014 to 2015 season last month.

Swindon have 15 current banning orders, the joint 10th highest in League One, with three of those bans coming in the last year.

These followed arrests made in connection with the home match with Bristol City, the play-off semi-final against Sheffield United and the play-off final at Wembley.

The number of banning orders in League One is down by 26 compared to last year, which is a six per cent reduction, with new banning orders for the league down by 42 per cent.

Meanwhile, there have been 10 football related arrests for Swindon in the last year - three being made at the County Ground with six away from home and one at a neutral venue.

Those arrests were for violent disorder (1), public disorder (3), throwing missiles (1), alcohol offences (2) and possession of pyrotechnics (3).

Football-related arrests in League One are down by 65 on last year, a drop of 23 per cent, but Wiltshire Police’s dedicated football officer Dan Hatt says there is always room for improvement.

“Although the data shows that there has been a decline in both football-related arrests and new banning orders, the fact that arrests are being made each week at football matches around the country suggests that there is still much work to be done to improve the culture surrounding the behaviour of some who attend football matches,” he said.

“We are constantly working to prevent football-related violence with the aim of maintaining a positive and family-friendly atmosphere for the majority of football supporters that attend the County Ground with the sole intention of watching the game and supporting their team.

“I would say that the vast majority of Swindon Town fans are well behaved. In particular, there is a core of perhaps 200 fans that you will see at every away game regardless of bad weather or how long the journey is, they do a very good job of supporting the team without causing problems for which they deserve credit.

“Unfortunately, there also exists a minority who will act in an anti-social manner and actively seek to antagonise the supporters of other teams. These are the people whom we must remain vigilant against.”

Last year there were 218 football-related arrests in League One with an attendance of 3,900,000 over the year.

That equates to 5.6 arrests per 100,000 fans that attend the games - an average that is higher than the Premier League (4.2) and the Championship (5.5) but lower than League Two (6.1) and the National League (7.4).

“Swindon Town have previously assisted the police with investigations that we have carried out regarding incidents in and around the County Ground,” added PC Hatt.

“In addition to this, the club have, on occasion, imposed their own stadium bans on supporters whose behaviour has had a negative impact upon the enjoyment of the other fans who attend the County Ground to watch the football.

“I believe that the police must continue to prosecute those who cause trouble at football matches and seek banning orders where this is appropriate but there is also a role to be played by football supporters who can help to spread the message that violent or anti-social behaviour is not welcome at football and discourage others from becoming involved.”