RIVAL football fans have condemned “draconian” ticket restrictions imposed by police on Huddersfield Town’s clash with Hull City next month.

West Yorkshire Police had refused to allow the game to be screened live by Sky – because policing costs would be too high.

After talks they backed down but imposed tough conditions on travelling supporters.

Police are insisting that only 1,500 tickets are issued to Hull fans – and they must travel from the KC Stadium on official coaches only.

Home fans will suffer too as there will be no ‘pay on the day’ and the pricing will be Category A*, the highest band with tickets costing up to £32.

The game remains on Easter Saturday (March 30) but will kick off at 5.20pm for Sky instead of the 12.30pm previously demanded by police.

Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Association (HTSA) and Hull City Supporters’ Club (HCSC) issued a joint statement slamming police over the restrictions.

HCSC vice-chairman Chris Ashton said: “We feel that these draconian measures are totally unnecessary and only go to further punish the football supporters of our club.

“We have many supporters in the West Yorkshire area and to ask them to travel back to Hull to collect a ticket is utterly preposterous.

“We are challenging for promotion and to deny genuine supporters the opportunity to witness this local derby is wholly unacceptable.”

With the Tigers pushing for a return to the Premier League, the club could have sold out the 4,000-capacity away end.

HTSA chairman Steve King has been left bemused by the restrictions and has written to West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson demanding answers.

Mr King said he was angry that “law-abiding fans were having their human rights infringed”.

Mr King revealed that when he and HTSA secretary Bob Pepper met Chief Insp Ged McManus last month they were categorically told the police would not agree to the Hull game being screened live.

“We want to know what has changed,” he said.

Mr Pepper said the police had been holding out over the cost.

“We had a long discussion about policing costs at matches,” he said. “They felt they could not justify the costs against their budget.”

There was no trouble when Town went to the KC Stadium in December but there was a disturbance over there in 2004-05 season.

It is understood police believe the fixture to be “high risk.”

In 2005 West Yorkshire Police attempted to impose similar restrictions on Hull fans going to Leeds.

They limited tickets to 1,700 but backed down and allowed fans to travel independently.

Police have twice rejected requests from Sky to screen Town home matches.

Both the Leeds and Cardiff matches were wanted but police refused.

It is believed the Football League became involved in negotiations as, under the Sky contract, all Football League clubs must have at least one home game televised live in a season and Town haven’t had any so far.

POLICE chiefs in West Yorkshire are flexing their muscles over the cost of policing football matches.

West Yorkshire Police is locked in a legal battle with Leeds United which could have massive implications for taxpayers.

Leeds United took the force to court saying it was wrong for them to charge the club for policing streets and car parks around its Elland Road stadium.

A High Court judge backed the club but West Yorkshire Police appealed and a final decision is still awaited.

In a statement last week, West Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said: “I fully support the force’s position on this.

“We are almost half way through a four year period that will see Government funding for policing in West Yorkshire reduce by over £100m and officer and police staff reductions of 2,000 in total.

“I don’t think it is fair on the communities and people across West Yorkshire that sports clubs or other organisations can expect significant numbers of police resources to be made available to support events without them making a proportionate contribution to the costs, especially when officers are abstracted from their normal work in other neighbourhoods to do so”.

A LIFELONG Hull fan from Birkby has vowed to boycott the Town v Hull game in protest at the police.

Cath Dyson, 36, branch rep for North and West Yorkshire for the Hull City Supporters’ Club, accused police of “demonising” both sets of fans.

West Yorkshire Police will only allow Hull 1,500 tickets – and fans must use official Tiger Travel coaches from the KC Stadium.

Cath, who can see the John Smith’s Stadium from her Birkby home, said she would face a 300-mile round trip to comply with police demands.

“It is completely unfair and unjustified,” she said. “Fans from both clubs are being demonised.

“Police seem to be confusing football fans with football hooligans.

“They want to bus people in and herd us into and out of the ground.”

Cath said that with her Huddersfield address she would have no problem buying a ticket among the home supporters but she intended to boycott the game.

Hull fans have urged their club to reject the ticket allocation and leave the away end empty but that is unlikely to happen.

Cath said many Hull fans would get tickets in the home end, a move encouraged by the police stance.

Meanwhile, Town fan and Colne Valley Tory MP Jason McCartney has written to Police Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson and Kirklees police commander Chief Supt Tim Kingsman over the decision.

“This is exactly why we have brought in police commissioners, so we have someone who is accountable and a figurehead to contact about policing policy and policing issues,” he said.

Mr McCartney said the restrictions, which were bound to hit the attendance, sounded like “restraint of trade.”

A Town spokesman said people buying tickets must have a previous booking history with the club and must not pass on tickets to non-Town fans.