SIX alleged football hooligans were stopped from travelling from the North-East to the Euro 2004 tournament at the weekend.

Banning orders were imposed on David Skeen, Mark Mennim, Darren Brindley, Stephen Wallace, Terence Donohue and Barry Crompton, who were all believed to be bound for Portugal for England's opening game with France last night.

Police in Newcastle swoop-ed after gathering intelligence on the known hooligans, three of whom were said to have been involved in violent clashes when Newcastle United played in Breda, Holland, in the UEFA Cup, last September.

Skeen, 48, of Calderdale Avenue, Walker, Newcastle, was stopped at Newcastle Airport late last week.

He appeared with 42-year-old Mennim, of Chatsworth Gardens, 33-year-old Brindley, of Bolingbroke Street, both Newcastle, and Wallace, 29, of Portmeads Rise, Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, before Newcastle magistrates, who banned them from attending England matches, both home and abroad, for 26 months.

Mennim and Brindley were described in court as two of Newcastle United's most prominent hooligans.

In a separate case, Sunderland fans Donohue and Crompton received the same ban after being apprehended as they were about to board a plane to Faro, among a group of 20 fans, at the airport on Saturday.

Donohue, 24, of Aysgarth Avenue, and 25-year-old Crompton, of Crummock Avenue, both Sunderland, were also barred from attending Black Cats' games, home and away, until August 2006.

The bans, which can be imposed for a minimum of two years and a maximum of three, were timed to end after the next World Cup, in Germany.

Following the cases, Detective Sergeant Paul Evans, who heads Northumbria Police's football intelligence unit, said the orders were a major boost in the fight against organised hooliganism.

He said the orders on the four Magpie fans took out the nucleus of Newcastle United's hooligan element.

"The reputation of both English football and English police forces are at stake when hooligans misbehave abroad," he said. "Hooligans used to think they could go abroad and cause trouble, and essentially get away with it.

"We are committed to working with a number of other forces and agencies, not only in this country, but also abroad, and people who do misbehave will have to face the consequences."

Northumbria Police have now issued more than 60 banning orders to football hooligans, with 38 imposed in the Cleveland force area, 11 in County Durham and ten in North Yorkshire.