POLICE are winning the war on football hooliganism in the North-East, with a big fall in the number of arrests, figures released today show.

A total of 201 supporters of the region's five league clubs were collared last season, little more than half the 378 detained during the 2003/4 campaign.

The Home Office said the success was the result of a crackdown on the worst soccer hooligans, with more being given football banning orders.

Thugs sent to prison for football-related offences can also be banned from matches for up to ten years, although bans normally last for two to five years.

The orders - banning offenders from any domestic or international match - were imposed on 91 North-East fans last season.

Only 130 were in place before the campaign began.

Of those 91 orders, 45 were imposed on Middlesbrough followers, with 26 on Newcastle United fans and 13 against Hartlepool United supporters.

However, the biggest fall in the number of arrests was at Sunderland (a 53 per cent decline from 125 to 59), narrowly pipping Newcastle (52 per cent, 161 to 78).

There were also sharp falls at Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, while at Darlington the number of arrests was just eight.

The Premiership bad boys were Manchester United (160 arrests), followed by Chelsea (130), Tottenham Hotspur (93) and Liverpool (91).

Across England and Wales, arrests for football-related offences fell from 4,067 to 3,628 during the 2004/05 season, building on a ten per cent decline during 2003/2004.

It meant just one arrest for every 10,732 spectators.

Meanwhile, the total of 3,153 banning orders - a 21 per cent increase last season - was the highest total ever.

Leeds United gained the highest number of orders in the year, 58, to reach a total of 128.

Paul Goggins, a Home Office Minister, said: "These statistics are extremely encouraging, particularly in the run up to next year's World Cup.

"It is clear that the tough legislation to stamp out football hooliganism, together with targeted policing and enforcement, is continuing to be effective."

Mr Goggins launched a new United Kingdom Football Policing Unit, to take overall control of policing operations at local, national and international level.

It brings together the Football Banning Orders Authority, the National Criminal Intelligence Service football section and the police football support team.