MORE than 100 people have handed their passports in to police - so they can't travel abroad during the World Cup.

The World Cup kicks off in Russia today but the 126 North-East football fans subject to banning orders will be stuck at home.

The 81 Newcastle United fans and 45 Sunderland fans subject to orders in our region all received letters saying they had to hand in their passports by June 5.

If they fail to hand over their documentation then they faced being summonsed to court for breaching the order.

Following the European Championships in France in 2016, eight fans were summonsed to court for failing to do so before the deadline.

But as the World Cup kicks off today, police have revealed all those subject to banning orders have handed in their passports.

Sergeant Chris Blyth, head of the Football Neighbourhood Policing Team, said he was pleased with the high level of compliance.

He said: "Whenever a major international tournament comes along it really hammers home the impact of these banning orders.

"Over the past few weeks we have had more than a hundred people hand in their passports to police which obviously means they can't travel abroad.

"That will have a huge impact on their summer plans and should act as a real deterrent to anyone who finds themselves on the periphery of disorder.

"I do want to take this opportunity to praise the vast majority of football fans who turn up and enjoy the passion of the game without getting in to trouble.

"This season we have seen very little trouble and have only handed out eight fresh banning orders in the past 12 months.

"However, that small minority of people can ruin the matchday experience for a lot of people and we will use banning orders to stop that from happening."

He added: "This passport surrender has been a great success and I know that many of the individuals affected regret their past behaviour.

"Don't make the same mistakes they did and enjoy the passion of the game without getting yourselves into bother."

A large number of those currently subject to an order received them following the Tyne-Wear derby in April 2013.

A number of people were arrested for football-related disorder and are still subject to banning orders more than five years later.

Fans can apply for an exemption from the passport surrender if they can prove to the Football Banning Orders Authority (FBOA) that they need to travel abroad.

This year three people received exemptions from the surrender after making a submission to police and the FBOA.