Town have lost their High Court claim that Suffolk Constabulary unlawfully charged them for policing costs in the roads surrounding their Portman Road stadium on match days between 2008 and 2013. The club are set to launch an appeal against the decision.

At a two-day hearing last month the club claimed it was unlawful that they were charged for the policing of closed roads such as Portman Road and Sir Alf Ramsey Way on matchdays and were suing for £200,000.

Suffolk Constabulary, who subsequently issued a counterclaim against Town for more than £96,000 in unpaid invoices, argued that the policing of the roads is inseparably linked to that inside the stadium and is therefore the club’s responsibility.

The judge ruled in Suffolk Constabulary’s favour, agreeing that they are entitled to recover the costs of policing those areas around the ground as the services provided amount to “special police services”.

In a statement, Town said: “The club, having considered the Court’s judgment in detail with our lawyers and other interested parties, is disappointed with the decision.

“It should be noted the Suffolk Police have admitted that they did overcharge the club for policing services prior to August 2011.

“The club has sought permission from the Court to appeal the decision and this has been approved and as a consequence we are now applying to the Court of Appeal to grant the hearing of an appeal.

“We will not be making any further comment on the matter in view of that pending appeal against the High Court’s decision.”

Suffol Constabulary said in a statement: “The judgement has acknowledged that policing football matches at Portman Road is something which needs to be paid for fairly and sensibly with appropriate policing costs being recovered.

"We will continue to work with the Safety Advisory Group to provide advice and allow the chair to determine how the club meets it obligation to achieve a Safety Certificate. We will vigorously defend any appeal, on behalf of the Suffolk tax payer.”

In 2012 the High Court ruled that West Yorkshire Police had overcharged Leeds United for "special police services" between 2009 and 2012, the Whites having argued that policing the roads and car parks around Elland Road is not their responsibility.

As a result of that ruling, Town were amongst a number of clubs to take similar action to reclaim cash previously paid - plus interest - for policing around stadia on matchdays. The Blues were charged from £5,926 to £25,242 per fixture.

Photo: Action Images

Mark added 18:04 - Jul 8 I can't say I am unhappy about ITFC losing as that £200K would come out of the Council Tax that the people of Suffolk pay. In December Suffolk Police announced 111 posts are be lost as it makes £20.5m cuts by 2020 (26 police officers, 68 police community support officers and 17 civilian administrative posts).
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thatdamgood89 added 18:05 - Jul 8 If only we were this tenacious about signing a player!!!
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jimblue93 added 18:15 - Jul 8 It's the police's job to protect the public. If the public choose to go to football then its their job to protect people. Fair enough inside the stadium its down to ITFC to pay, but not for the roads.
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Kirbmeister added 18:34 - Jul 8 Who cares?
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Woodbridgian added 19:38 - Jul 8 Disgrace we even took the action in the first place. Another Marcus Evans own goal !
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Calderboy added 20:15 - Jul 8 Uefacup81 just chill do we really care breath in and breath out go and have a pint. I've been watching awful football these last few years should I sue the club for something they have promised me for years i.e. Football and not delivered upon without the police they can't hold public events they know it but are just trying it on
4

phillo added 20:31 - Jul 8 There's lots of people on here using lots of "legalese" & putting forward very cogent arguments for & against in a,legal sense. I would not dream of arguing against those who clearly know better than most of us the legal nuances (or appear to!) ..... I will just say to the legally uneducated it does appear bl***y obvious that if there wasn't a football match on they wouldn't need to police & my club trying to use "legal argument" to get out of paying for something they are clearly MORALLY responsible for and that all tax payers - regardless of whether you want to go to the match or not - will otherwise have to pay for makes me slightly uncomfortable. Do we really want to be like the morally bankrupt club Leeds in this ? or anything to be honest !!!!!

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blueboy1981 added 20:52 - Jul 8 Pathetic people will always make excuses for anything and everything that comes out of this Club - this being another typical example. If I were responsible for Suffolk Police, I would tell the Club where to go now - and completely vacate the Club on match days - instead concentrating on their normal area coverage. Cough up you stingy millionaire - and pay yours dues - no doubt that's asking too much by far. We would see how clever it all proved to be - in a very short space of time. Can you wonder why more begging has had to be done to sell more Season Tickets - sensible people have had enough of it all - including this latest nonsense.

6

Dissboyitfc added 21:04 - Jul 8 Spot on blueboy1981...You state what is clearly obvious, yet others will defend the actions of the club no matter what!
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blueboy1981 added 21:17 - Jul 8 ...... the way we are going we will end up with nothing other than a few trolls on the terraces - and that should offend no one other than who it applies to. Our once great Club, known worldwide for all the right reasons - degenerates season upon season. Never, ever, thought I would see the day.
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multiplescoregasms added 21:20 - Jul 8 uefacup81 totally off track here, but you have made me laugh by saying 'massive joey'. That's brightened up my Friday night :-)
0

Seasider added 22:11 - Jul 8 Marcus Evans certainly doesn't win many friends with his actions.First it was the Wimbledon authorities many years ago,the RFU,Athletics,UEFA,HMRC and now the Police by trying to avoid paying £96000. Despite what has been said about not affecting playing budget,we shall see if ME splashes out any more money in the transfer market. Think not,and with less money coming in from Season Tickets,think Mick will do well to keep us near the top of a much stronger division this season.

3

lightingblue added 23:42 - Jul 8 Do we need the police on match days. There will be nobody there to watch the games in the crowds keep going down. Money saved. Easy maths really
1

muccletonjoe added 06:40 - Jul 9 Is this where our transfer fund has been spent
1

blues1 added 15:42 - Jul 9 No Martin I don't think there is any difference between our case and theirs . it was proved that the Yorkshire police were not entitled to charge for policing the roads around their ground as those roads did not belong to Leeds utd. The roads around our ground, do not belong to itfc. So where's the difference? That's right, there isn't one.
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Seasider added 17:02 - Jul 9 In fairness to Mr Evans,feel I should point out that in the 2007 Rugby World Cup,he won his case in the Paris Commercial Court.
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Geoff added 12:05 - Jul 10 That is the transfer budget gone then.
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phillo added 15:14 - Jul 11 blues1 but morally do you agree with it ? No game, no need to police ...... simples ...... confused by legalese & a judge who clearly decided on a strict interpretation of wording ...... instead of using common sense & making a ruling based on the "bleeding obvious". Opportunists - which sadly in my opinion include our own club - then jump on the bandwagon & try to recoup money (which I will state again is TAX PAYERS money) amorally. If it is the "right" thing to do as some have argued - legally & possibly more importantly morally - why hasn't every club done it ? Perhaps some do not want to align their morals with Leeds Utd. as we seem to be in a hurry to do ...... sad.

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tractorboybig added 12:45 - Mar 1 Perhaps the police should refuse to police any football match and close the whole system down
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