Police operation for derby match

A line of police after a match between Swansea and Cardiff

Police dealt with disturbances at recent matches between the clubs

Hundreds of police officers will be on duty to prevent trouble at Sunday's south Wales football derby.

A sell-out 20,000 crowd will watch Cardiff City and Swansea City meet in what could be the last ever game between the clubs at Ninian Park.

A major police operation costing an estimated £250,000 will include 450 officers, horses and "spotters" looking for known troublemakers.

With some pubs open before kick off, police urged fans to "be sensible".

Matches between the two clubs have often been marred by crowd trouble and a total of around 35 arrests were made in two previous games between the clubs this season.

Divisional commander for Cardiff, Ch Supt Josh Jones, said he wanted fans to enjoy what is an important league game for both teams.

"There's fierce rivalry we know between the fans so we've put together a significant policing operation," he said.

We will have about 450 police officers on the street and that will include horses and dogs and the like, and spotters

Ch Supt Josh Jones

"We have worked with both clubs, we have worked with both sets of supporters and we want people to come along and enjoy the day," he said.

Cardiff and Swansea have played each other twice this season at the Liberty Stadium, once in the Carling Cup and once in the Championship.

And while police praised the behaviour of the majority of fans, there were disturbances.

"We monitor intelligence, we're aware there's chat between the fans and we're very conscious with previous matches this season between the two clubs, there's been something like 35 arrests," said Supt Jones.

"We will have about 450 police officers on the street and that will include horses and dogs and the like, and spotters.

"Anyone who comes to the match with a banning order, the spotters will be out too and will take robust action."

About 200 Cardiff and Swansea fans are the subject of banning orders, which prevent known troublemakers from attending games.

Some pubs will be open before the game, which kicks off at 1100 BST, but they will only contain Cardiff fans because the 1,600 Swansea supporters will be escorted straight into the ground from official coaches.

Supt Jones agreed it would not be helpful if fans were drinking heavily but added police always worked closely with landlords.

'No concerns'

"We will have licensing officers out there on Sunday morning visiting the pubs as well as officers in the Canton area and the city centre just to provide that police presence, that reassurance," he said.

Many pubs near the ground planned to open before the game and serve breakfast, including the Canton Cross.

Landlord Brian McDonald said he had been at the pub for 14 years and he had "no concerns at all".

"When I first started we used to get 20, 30, 40 fans and now you can't move in here and we never get any trouble," he said.

The Admiral Napier plans to open when the game kicks off at 1100 as a precaution, but landlord Vickie Merrills said she had never experienced problems with football fans.

Cardiff City Supporters' Club spokesman Vince Alm said he doubted many fans would want to drink so early on a Sunday morning.

"For the majority of people it will be too early for them. If they've gone out on a Saturday the last thing they're going to be doing is getting up early on a Sunday morning," he said.