Football hooligans known as the "ultras" may target Middlesbrough fans in Rome for the UEFA Cup tie with Roma, police fear.

Italian police are providing a convoy of buses to spare North-East supporters the 15-minute trip from central Rome to the Olympic Stadium, on Wednesday, March 15.

British Embassy staff and Roma officials are concerned fans could become targets of the ultras - small, well-organised groups of thugs. During big matches in the past, they have been seen giving the Heil Hitler salute, unfurling swastika banners, neo-Nazi symbols and images of Mussolini and chanting anti-semitic slogans.

Superintendent Steve Swales, district commander with Cleveland Police, said anyone wearing a Boro shirt trying to reach the stadium on their own could become a target.

Terry Tasker, the Boro safety manager, said yesterday: "It's not usual for police to provide coaches to their own football stadium. This is what they are doing."

Supt Swales said he was aware Boro fans were accustomed to making their way on foot to matches at The Riverside.

But he said: "There have been incidents in the past when people have tended to make their own way to the stadium. They have been set upon by Roma supporters. This is one way of ensuring that does not happen."

Boro fans are being advised to keep their passports safe and to carry a couple of spare passport photos in case a passport is lost.

Fans are asked to meet at the Villa Borghese, in central Rome, where the coaches will collect them.

They will also be kept back at the stadium after the match for up to an hour to make sure the area is clear of Roma supporters.

Supt Swales said: "Those who have not made travel plans should consider very carefully about going with an organised tour, through a company or a club."

He said that while the vast majority of Boro fans planned to enjoy the match, a mindless few were set on getting drunk and misbehaving.

He said: "Rome police have made it absolutely clear vandalism and drunken or racist behaviour will not be tolerated under any circumstances."

Fans are being warned against sitting, climbing on, or defacing any of Rome's historic monuments.