Manchester City flare offenders sought

POLICE were yesterday working to identify the Manchester City fans who set off flares inside Newcastle’s St James’ Park at the weekend.

One flare was thrown from the section containing travelling spectators into another housing home fans below during Saturday’s 3-1 Barclays Premier League victory for the champions.

A Northumbria Police statement said: “A flare was thrown from the section containing Manchester City fans into a section of Newcastle United fans, no-one was injured and it was quickly extinguished. A second flare was set off in the section containing Manchester City fans. Officers at the scene carried out extensive enquiries, including checking CCTV and speaking with available witnesses.

“However, the person or people responsible are yet to be identified. We take incidents such as this extremely seriously and enquiries are still ongoing. Officers continue to work with colleagues at Greater Manchester Police.”

The Northumbria force are also investigating an allegation of racist abuse after City substitute Aleksandar Kolarov was involved in a lengthy exchange with fans holding an Albania flag.