POLICE in riot gear clashed with Colchester United fans who were said to have ripped a gate off its hinges following their team's draw with Wycombe Wanderers.

Seventy officers were drafted in to High Wycombe to deal with what they said was a hooligan element of 80 Colchester fans who arrived intent on disrupting the final match of the season on Saturday.

Police claimed that their operation was a success.

Earlier in the day they went to the Flint Cottage public house, rounding up the United fans.

They were marched to the White Horse pub in West Wycombe Road where they boarded a coach to the ground.

At the stadium the group was coralled into a separate section of the ground and kept behind when the match finished.

But troublemakers surged forward and ripped the stadium gates off their hinges before being forced back by officers with batons in one of the few flashpoints of the day.

Police then shepherded the crowd back before putting them on special buses bound for Wycombe Station.

Officers had braced themselves for violent clashes between fans after being tipped off by Special Intelligence.

Inspector David Whitaker, of Oxfordshire police area, hailed the operation a success.

He said: "We had specific intelligence relating to a group of away supporters that appeared to be intent on causing trouble."

There is a history of trouble between the two clubs dating back to when they were rivals in the non-league game.

But Trevor Halliday, manager of the Flint Cottage pub, Amersham Hill, where the Colchester fans had been drinking, said the fans he met were good-natured.

He said: "They were as good as gold. The police telephoned me at the beginning of the week asking if I was going to let away fans in. I said yes. I believe they told fans they could go into the pub or go straight to the ground.

"They seemed to be very upset at the way they were treated. The police came in here with riot shields at 2.15pm to get them out."

There were three arrests. Two were Colchester fans and one was a Wanderers fan. The arrests were for alleged possession of a Class B drug and a drunk and disorderly case.