Police are on the hunt for two football hooligans after they breached orders designed to stop them travelling to the European Championships.

Officers around the country are looking for the pair amid fears they could try to sneak out of the country to cause trouble at the tournament.

A three-day police operation at Gatwick this week has been ensuring fans heading to the Ukraine for England’s first game on Monday behave themselves.

Similar operations are running at major ports and airports across the country to try to stop banned fans from leaving the country.

Anyone who is the subject of a football banning order had to hand in their passports to police by June 1 or register with their local station if they do not have travel documents.

Two of the 42 banned supporters in Sussex failed to hand in their documents and so far officers have been unable to trace them.

Inquiries are now being made to trace the two men so they can be arrested for breaching the terms of their orders.

The pair, who are believed to be from Worthing and Brighton, could face six months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to £5,000 and a further banning order.

During the operation at Gatwick at 11.45am yesterday, officers were called to the check-in desk of a Portuguese airline in the South Terminal after a passenger checking in for a flight to Oporto said he had a bomb in his luggage.

Officers quickly established that there was no bomb and the airline refused to allow the passenger on the flight.

Police warned him about his future conduct and he left the airport.

The operation is part of a coordinated programme to ensure that the surge of football fever with the start of the European Championships does not coincide with a surge in crime.

Sussex Police will have dedicated domestic violence units to arrest thugs attacking their partners during the tournament, which started yesterday, along with extra officers on the beat to tackle any trouble at pubs and bars during and after games.

The force has also worked with Worthing Borough Council to introduce a dispersal order allowing them to move on people behaving antisocially in the town centre during the tournament.

The FA has sold 2,000 tickets for the first group game, 3,000 for the second and 2,000 for the third with thousands of tickets left unsold.

The county’s pubs are set to bepacked throughout the month-long tournament.

Police say most of the individuals subject to a banning order describe themselves as Brighton and Hove Albion or Crawley Town supporters with a small number claiming to follow other clubs in London and the south east.

All 42 of the supporters currently subject to the banning orders are men.

More than 3,000 supporters nationwide are currently subject to a banning order during the tournament.

The orders, which were introduced in 2000, prevent potential troublemakers from England and Wales travelling to football matches abroad.

They can be imposed by a magistrates’ court or crown court on anyone found guilty of a football-related offence or who has contributed to violence or disorder and is likely to do so again unless they are stopped.

Superintendent Grenville Wilson said: “Our main aim is to make this a safe and trouble-free tournament.

“Our approach will be friendly, fair but firm.”

PC Darren Balkham, Sussex Police’s football liaison officer, said: “We have a very good record when it comes to fans observing football banning orders and compare well with other forces.

“At the last World Cup I think we had 100% compliance and we are close to that again this time around.”