Police will be undertaking a "proactive" operation to detect illegal drugs when Bristol City FC play Birmingham City on Saturday (March 5). Officers will swab surfaces in Ashton Gate stadium and in local pubs to detect substances like cocaine.
The swab tests will take place at random before and after the match both throughout the stadium and also in pubs nearby. Police also warned that anyone bringing pyrotechnic devices, such as flares, risk being refused entry to the match, or even prosecuted.
The force says that this operation is being conducted "amid a reported rise in instances of disorder at football matches nationally".
