A large police presence will be at Sunderland's Stadium of Light

Police on horses, backed up by officers with dogs, baton charged England supporters who were besieging the Turkish end at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.

At the height of the incident bottles, car wheel trims and bar stools were thrown at police.

Earlier, more than 50 people were arrested - many of whom were known trouble makers.

There were also two arrests in Sunderland and two in Newcastle, for minor public order offences, ahead of the game at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.

A total of 25 "known football hooligans" were detained to prevent a possible breach of the peace.

They were held in police stations across Sunderland - but officers say the group had not been responsible for any actual violence.

A further 25 were then arrested in Fawcett Street, Sunderland, and were being held in local police stations.

Police wearing riot protection uniforms carried out individual searches on a group of fans, thought to be from West Yorkshire.

'Good operation'

Police had been liaising with their counterparts in West Yorkshire ahead of Wednesday's game.

There were fears some Leeds United fans may use the Euro 2004 qualifier to seek revenge after two of their supporters were stabbed to death before a game with Galatasaray in Istanbul in 2000.

Officers from Northumbria Police and community leaders had appealed to fans not to cause trouble.

Superintendent Jim Campbell, of Northumbria Police, said: "We are liaising with West Yorkshire Police.

"Troublemakers are intent on causing trouble anywhere, and the people killed in that event (Istanbul) just give them an excuse.

Trio arrested

"The policing style will be robust but will be fair - people behaving in a boisterous manner will be spoken to, and if they persist, they will be arrested."

Police, who drafted in 600 officers, also warned any fans without a ticket not to turn up, and said anyone selling tickets illegally would be arrested.

Officers raided a hotel in the centre of Newcastle on Wednesday and seized three men from the south of England on suspicion of ticket touting.

More than 90 tickets for the England v Turkey match were recovered from the hotel and the trio were still in police custody being questioned on Wednesday afternoon.

Flyers advertising tickets for sale had been distributed outside St James's Park in Newcastle before the England Under-21 match against Turkey on Tuesday night.

Welcome messages

Northumbria Police would not confirm if the arrests were connected to these leaflets.

The game at the Stadium of Light is a 48,000 sell-out and police say up to 5,000 Turkish football fans are expected at the match.

Police have printed leaflets in Turkish and banners with flags and welcome messages in both languages have been hung on all major approaches to Sunderland.

Beckham backs England passion

The leaflets explain how the game will be policed, with fans reminded not to wave flags that could obstruct the view of others, and that items such as fireworks will not be allowed into the stadium.

Officers are using information from Turkish police and tip-offs from the National Criminal Intelligence Service to monitor known troublemakers.

They will use almost 70 security cameras dotted around the city to monitor the movement of fans.

Uniformed and plain-clothes officers will also be mingling with the crowds in an effort to spot potential trouble-spots.

Officers on foot patrol will be allocated pubs to co-ordinate public safety.