POLICE in Brussels are under fire for locking up of dozens of Liverpool fans who travelled to Wednesday's Champions League match without tickets.

Seventy-four fans were arrested for being within a five-mile exclusion zone of a football ground in the runup to the Reds' game against Anderlecht.

Home Office officials are demanding an explanation from the Belgian government as to why the British supporters were held.

Bootle MP Joe Benton is demanding a full inquiry into the incident, and the behaviour of the police was criticised by fans groups in Liverpool.

Richie Pedder from the LFC supporters club said: "This is no way to treat people.

"You can't stop people travelling to matches and if they don't have tickets you just let them watch the game in pubs nearby.

"That's the way to handle situations like this."

A spokesman for the Belgian police said officers had made arrests under laws introduced to control fans who travelled to the country for the European Championships in 2000.

He said: "The football law dictates that a supporter who is not in possession of a valid ticket is committing an offence by being in the vicinity of the ground."

Officers from Merseyside police have been in contact with their Belgian counterparts since the arrests were made, while the Home Office is looking into why the fans were detained.

A Liverpool FC spokesman said: "I was under the impression that all of the arrests happened close to the ground.

"We knew about the Belgian law in advance and flagged it up as an issue to supporters."

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are liaising with the Belgian authorities with regard to the rationale behind the exclusion zone."

None of the supporters were charged with any offences but their details will be passed to Merseyside police with details about why each person was picked up.

If the explanations suggest the fans should not be allowed to travel abroad, police could ask the courts to hand them football banning orders.

* BOOTLE >MP Joe Benton today demanded a full inquiry, branding the arrests an "over-reaction" by Belgian police.

He said: "We are part of the EU with guarantees of free access and that should apply equally to Liverpool fans.

"As long as they were not committing any offences, they had every right to be there, tickets or not.

"It seems a serious over-reaction and totally unjust and an intrusion on their rights as citizens of the UK and the EU."

He will raise the issue with sports minister Richard Caborn next week.

Wallasey MP Angela Eagle said: "It is understandable that police overseas use tough tactics to combat hooliganism.

"But if they decide on an exclusion zone they should tell people about it.

"Our supporters clubs need to work more closely with clubs and police overseas."

Birkenhead MP Frank Field said: "I hope the lesson drawn from this incident is that fans should check on what is going to happen if they travel without tickets."