England fans are ambushed by bottle-wielding French thugs in shocking footage from Marseille
Hooligans throw chairs and bottles at the Three Lions supporters before riot police sweep in to break up clash
ENGLAND fans are ambushed by a thuggish group of bottle-wielding French youths in this shocking footage.
Local youngsters can be seen approaching Three Lions supporters who were eating and drinking outside the Baloo bar in the centre of Marseille before tonight's clash with Russia.
Local youths are reported to have carried makeshift weapons including belts and metal bars as they charged at the football supporters.
Hundreds of English fans had been drinking at O'Malley's bar and the Queen Victoria pub all day on Thursday.
Speaking about the ensuing violence, one fan, who would only be named as Simon, said: "They were baiting us, and then attacked.
"None of the England fans were doing anything wrong – a few of us had a bit much to drink, but that was all.
"Suddenly a French gang appeared and started attacking us, and throwing stuff. We had to defend ourselves, and then the police showed up."
Ambulances were on the scene by midnight as French police restored order within a few hours.
Images of the tear gas canisters used by authorities emerged this morning as the clear-up operation began.
Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters' Federation, suggested locals had come out to deliberately cause trouble with the England fans.
He said: "There's not huge numbers of England fans in town yet, probably the biggest congregation anywhere was outside this pub.
"People were drinking and having a bit of a sing-song all day, the French police were very relaxed, letting them get on with it.
"It was all fine until, our understanding is, a group of around 30 to 40 locals turned up, I think with the intention of provoking the England fans to see if they could get a rise out of them.
"In those circumstances it's the police's job to prevent a confrontation and they used French methods to do so, which we're not particularly used to.
"They used tear gas, which is a little bit indiscriminate for my liking, but it did the job and the problems were over. There were a couple of arrests of English fans as they responded to that provocation."
The port city is home to more than 200,000 Muslims though it is not clear if the trouble was caused by religious tensions.
The violence is a dark reminder of the last time England fans were in Marseille at the 1998 World Cup.
Then, scores of people were hurt, more than 100 were arrested or deported, and some England supporters were later jailed.
However, these England fans got the drinking started immediately
Boozy England fans started the party early yesterday after they began arriving in Marseille.
The tournament kicks off tomorrow with France’s clash against Romania, but these fans wasted no time after arriving in the host country.
They draped the city in England flags and took over Marseille’s streets for the long-anticipated tournament.
French police watched from a safe distance as England fans swarmed bars ahead of their game with Russia on Saturday.
French police observe from a safe distance after a bar is taken over by the English
Police will be hoping to avoid a repeat of 1998’s World Cup, where England fans clashed with Tunisia supporters in Marseille for two consecutive days.
French security services are already under huge strain, and have been on high terror alert for more than a year.
Most recently, they staged a terror drill in Lyon amid fears ISIS will be targeting the tournament.
More than 90,000 officers will be on duty during the Euros, which will run from Saturday to July 10.
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