THE “darker side of football” has been laid bare as a domestic violence charity revealed there had been a spike in incidents during England’s World Cup campaign.

As Darlington Borough Council launched an investigation into why recent weeks had seen a “significant increase” in children being referred to social services, charity Harbour said the combination of a heatwave and major sporting tournament had created a perfect storm, leading to all its Tees Valley refuges becoming full.

The inquiry comes as the National Centre for Domestic Violence reported incidents had risen by a fifth this month as England fans followed the national team’s best World Cup run since 1990.

Durham Police logged five incidents of domestic violence related to the World Cup following England’s victory against Tunisia alone.

Danielle Chadwick, Harbour’s Tees Valley service manager, said the recent spike in domestic violence had been worse than the annual post-Christmas surge and the charity had taken the step of dispatching undercover victims’ support staff after police identified incidents.

She said: “The increase is connected to tensions and emotions running high. That is the sad situation. Usually around any major sporting tournament there is a 26 to 28 per cent increase in incidents. Over the last four to six weeks it has been tough.”

A meeting of Darlington’s health and wellbeing board heard its chairman, Councillor Andrew Scott say while everyone could be proud of England’s achievements, “there is a darker side to football – alcohol misuse”.

He said: “We saw that throughout the town and in other towns and that leads to domestic violence. Alcohol misuse is a significant factor in our society and is something we always need to be mindful of. From my point of view minimum pricing is the way forward.”

The council’s children’s and adult services director, Suzanne Joyner, added: “Our referrals to children’s services have increased significantly in the last weeks. We will analyse what the reasons were.”

Councillor Cyndi Hughes, the council’s Children and Young People portfolio holder, said other factors, such as the recent heatwave, would be examined to see if they had played a role in the increased referrals.

She said: “We are really concerned about this. The effects of domestic violence have long-lasting effects on children and young people.

“I think authorities need to be more proactive ahead of matches, but excessive drinking for any reason is not acceptable.”