Gangs of local youths attacked a Brussels bar and a restaurant used by English fans as celebrations at Turkey's Euro 2000 soccer win degenerated into violence early today.
Turkish fans danced, sang and set off fireworks in central Brussels after their team's 2-0 win over Belgium saw them into the Euro 2000 quarter finals.
But the jubilation later turned sour as scattered vandalism broke out in the city centre and Belgian riot police moved in to disperse crowds.
Local youths attacked a bar and a neighbouring restaurant in central Brussels which have been gathering points on recent evenings for English football fans.
"There were several skirmishes by local youths. They attacked two pubs. But everything is returning to normal now. We did use some tear gas but it was as a defensive spray as police vans were encircled by local youths," a police spokesman said.
It was a third night of violence in a week for Brussels. There were two nights of mayhem before and after England's match against Germany on Saturday, with hundreds of arrests.
With UEFA, soccer's European governing body, threatening to expel the England team from the championship if English fans are involved in any more trouble, all eyes were on English fans' behaviour before Tuesday's crunch match against Romania.
Few English fans were to be seen on the streets last night. Belgium's Belga news agency said police had to intervene between groups of British and Turkish fans at one point, but the police spokesman could not confirm the presence of any English fans.
A group of local youths, described by witnesses as Turkish fans, wrecked the Au Pot Carre restaurant, hurling paving stones through the window and injuring some customers.
Some bystanders said the youths were looking for English fans who had filled the bar on previous evenings, but only a few English were at the restaurant at the time.
There were about a dozen English drinkers in the Au Pot Carre when a group of between 50 and 60 Turks hurled bricks through the window as well as a car tyre, complete with its wheel.
The owner, Mr Thierry de Groot, said: "The English were totally faultless. They had been drinking quietly then the Turkish stormed the bar."
Seven England fans were drinking in the Lop Lop bar further down the street when it was attacked. Its English owner, Mr Andy Barrett (52), said: "The Turks smashed six windows but they are reinforced so we managed to stop them getting in."
At the nearby Le Turfiste bar, the owner, Ms Sylvie Wauters, said around 40 English and Swedish men and women were drinking there when a crowd of youths charged down the street throwing bottles and rocks at the window. Customers hid behind the bar or took refuge in the toilets.
"During the whole weekend, we have not really had problems with the English," she said.
Another report said that at least 2,000 Turkish fans gathered in the Place de la Bourse, a few hundred yards from the Grand Place and that, after chanting and waving flags for half an hour, they went on a rampage around the city centre, completely unchecked by police.
Frank Millar, London Editor, reports:
Football hooligans face a lifelong ban from the English game, as the UEFA threat hangs over England's continued participation in Euro 2000.
The Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, announced the new penalty yesterday to MPs, as part of a package of measures aimed at preventing violence around tonight's England versus Romania match.
But as the Tories criticised Mr Straw for a "woefully complacent and inadequate response" to "an extremely serious situation", a senior Labour MP predicted provocation by German fans in a bid to have the English team thrown out of the contest.
And Mr Joe Ashton, chairman of the all-party group on football, accused UEFA of playing "deep politics" by threatening England's expulsion to increase Germany's chances of staging the 2006 World Cup.
Mr Straw told MPs that immigration and police checks at ports had been stepped up, with ferry and Eurostar train officials given lists of the nearly 400 people deported over the weekend so that they could be refused return transport. After discussions with the Football Association, Mr Straw said any supporter convicted or suspected of hooliganism would be banned for life from attending games in England.
Mr Straw's intervention followed the arrest of 584 British citizens after a weekend of violence in Brussels and Charleroi. The Prime Minister, Mr Blair, discussed the situation with his Belgian counterpart, Mr Verhofstadt, last night on the margins of the EU summit in Portugal. A spokesman for Mr Blair said Mr Verhofstadt had agreed to look at the issue of the sale of alcohol and of "marking" passports. He said they had agreed to work closely together to minimise the risk of trouble today and in the later stages of the tournament, should England progress.
Under Conservative fire for having failed to assume new powers - similar to those in Germany and elsewhere enabling the authorities to prevent troublemakers from travelling - Mr Blair yesterday promised to review the measures taken by the government. However he stressed that the "vast majority" of those arrested were found not to have criminal records or to be known to the police.
Mr Straw made the same point in the Commons when he condemned the rioters. "We witnessed our fellow citizens engaged in appalling drunken violence on the streets of Belgium. These people have disgraced the nation and our national game," he said.