THERE were no major incidents of violence or disorder in Worcester city centre following England's World Cup defeat to Italy, say police.

England lost their first game 2-1 when Mario Balotelli's winner in Brazil broke English hearts after a late, 11pm kick-off. But, during an exceptionally busy night in Worcester city centre, the defeat failed to translate into violence, disorder or anti-social behaviour beyond that of a typical Saturday night in the city.

Ed Williams, the force duty inspector with West Mercia Police, said: "It's busy in custody this morning but it's busy every Sunday morning. There were no serious significant incidents of football-related disorder or violence in the city centre which is good. Thank you to everyone for heeding the warnings and it was a shame about the result."

The West Midlands Ambulance Service put out a lengthy statement ahead of the game, urging fans to

'make sure they can remember the action, whatever the result'.

Acting Emergency Services Director, Nathan Hudson, said on Saturday: “We will have extra ambulances, response vehicles and paramedic officers on duty tonight. There will be additional staff in our emergency operations centres and our Gold co-ordination centre will be operating at headquarters.

“Unfortunately, experience tells us that we are likely to be incredibly busy with alcohol related incidents before, during and after the match."

West Mercia Police vowed to stamp down hard on a minority of trouble-makers in Worcester ahead of the big game.

England's next match is this Thursday against Uruguay which kicks off at 8pm.