THOUSANDS of Bristol Rovers fans have arrived in Swindon ahead of the big derby match against Town this afternoon.

Several police cars and vans parked up outside the train station so that Wiltshire and Thames Valley officers on foot and horseback could guide the arriving football fans across the road.

The Bristolians were in good spirits, cheering and chanting as they gathered outside the pub opposite, with police stepping in when someone set off a blue flare.

 

The Great Western Hotel and Cheekies are hosting the away side supporters, then police will carefully guide large groups of them to the County Ground before kick-off at 1pm.

Games usually start at 3pm on Saturday but the time has been moved forward to stop people getting too merry and misbehaving beforehand.

There is expected to be around 2,000 away fans and 10,000 Swindon fans watching the match at the venue.

Excitement is building ahead of the big game between the two rivals. The Adver's sports reporter Jonathan Leighfield will be running a live blog so you can follow the action from home.

 

Shrivenham Road is closed to vehicles from the Magic Roundabout from 10am to 3.30am for crowd safety reasons.

WATCH: Thousands of flans flood Fleming Way as police guide them to County Ground