Scotland football fans swig beer in Leicester Square fountain as more than 20,000 descend on London
| Date | 18 June 2021 |
| Published date | 18 June 2021 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
Only a small minority of supporters who have journeyed down to the city for the Scotland and England match, which kicks off from Wembley at 8pm tonight, have tickets for the game.
Scotland fans have been getting into the spirit of the occasion, with images showing fans wearing flags and diving into the William Shakespeare fountain in Leicester Square.
READ MORE: Scotland fans slam Sadiq Khan’s Euro 2020 ‘mixed messages’ as ‘England-only pubs cancel Scottish bookings’
While others were snapped in a large group in Hyde Park as football fever spreads around the capital.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "Due to the high profile UEFA EURO Football match between England & Scotland on Friday 18th June at 8pm and the anticipated anti-social behaviour this may bring.
"A section 35 dispersal authority has been implemented.
"This has been authorised by Inspector Dodds from 1500 hours 17/06/21 till 1500 hours 19/06/21 in the West End area in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of members of the public being caused alarm harassment and distress and the occurrence of criminality in the local area."
The order gives a police constable and a police community support officer in uniform the power to exclude a person from an area for 48 hours with an Inspector’s authority.
The Daily Record reports that about 800 supporters gathered at the normally sedate Serpentine lake on Hyde Park yesterday afternoon.
Eight riot vans were parked up with about 100 officers at the scene to respond if things got out of hand.
London police officers have been watching the men in kilts and will continue to do so throughout today. There are worries about what will happen when they will mix with the England fans.
Glasgow was previously a hotspot for the Delta coronavirus variant that originated in India, but has since been downgraded from its high alert status.
Though most of Scotland has been dropped to Level One in the five-tier system, 13 council areas are in Level Two amid rising case rates.
One officer who had been around supporters said: “There’s been no aggression and no real...
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