POLICE believe England's final game at Wembley helped to keep trouble off the streets of Hartlepool for the weekend derby clash.

Hartlepool beat Darlington 2-1 in Saturday's match at Victoria Park, Hartlepool, and, despite concerns that rival fans would clash in the streets after the match, police reported a quiet night.

A spokesman for the Hartlepool force said: "There were a couple of people arrested for public order offences, but that was all.

"Maybe, with England playing at Wembley, it stopped some people from travelling here."

Only 3,500 tickets had been sold for the match by the 5pm cut-off point on Friday, but security was still stepped up by the police.

Both clubs had wanted the match to start at noon to allow fans to watch the England versus Germany game at 3pm, but this was heavily criticised by police concerned that fans would stay in Hartlepool to watch the televised game, increasing the chances of trouble.

Previous matches between the sides have resulted in violence, with rival fans involved in clashes.

In their Division 3 play-off game at Victoria Park at the end of last season, ex-Darlington manager David Hodgson was struck by a coin thrown from the crowd and his staff were spat at.