'15 arrested' before England tie

It is unclear whether the trouble involved England fans

Fifteen people were arrested ahead of the England football team's friendly with the Netherlands, according to Dutch police.

Violent clashes between football fans were reported in Amsterdam city centre on Wednesday.

One eyewitness said police on horseback contained a group of England fans in Amsterdam's central Dam Square.

But the UK Foreign Office has confirmed that no England fans were involved in what police say were local scuffles.

There were no reports of serious injuries, a Dutch police spokesman told the Associated Press.

The news agency said police were searching all the supporters for weapons and they were photographed and filmed before being released.

Several British police were also present in the square to assist, it added.

The police were there at the very beginning so they stopped [the trouble] quickly

Royal Netherlands FA

Amsterdam's acting mayor Lodewijk van Asscher told local television there was a threat that supporters of Ajax - the city's team - wanted to fight English fans.

"In addition, a hard core of other clubs in the Netherlands, Belgium and England are planning to come to Amsterdam to misbehave," he said.

The Football Association sold its allocation of 7,000 tickets for the game.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The vast majority of England supporters attending this fixture will be genuine bona fide members of the official supporters club and as such will pose no risk to the safety and security of this fixture."

There was no intelligence to suggest any of the 3,129 people subject to banning orders would have tried to travel to the fixture, he added.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Netherlands Football Association said 15 people were arrested before the game but that she did not know their nationality.

She said reports had suggested the clashes were "not that serious", adding: "The police were there at the very beginning so they stopped it quickly."