GERMAN police accompanied a group of fanatical supporters from Bayer Leverkusen as Brighton and Crystal Palace fans clashed at the weekend.

Around 60 fans from the club in Cologne, Germany, were in the Brighton end at the Amex on Saturday - in support of the Seagulls as they played their bitter rivals.

One Crystal Palace fan who encountered the group in the West Street Wetherspoons pub prior to the match said: “There were at least 60 Bayer Leverkusen Ultras that came over to fight with Palace fans.

“There were German police with them.

“The police knew about it and they allowed them to come.

“I spoke to a Sussex officer who said they knew they were here but they were out earlier than expected.

“I tried to speak to one of the Germans and he said to me ‘today I am Brighton and we are enemies.’”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “A small number of officers from Germany were in attendance, as were officers from a number of other UK police forces, to support Sussex Police.

"It is common practice in policing football for officers from other countries to travel to assist colleagues.

“They were not operationally deployed and were there purely to advise due to German football supporters attending."