Fans of England and Wales will not be allowed to drink alcohol on the streets of Lens before and after their Euro 2016 game because of a 24-hour ban. The Group B tie takes place in the French city at 14:00 BST on Thursday, June 16.

The alcohol ban will run from 06:00 local time on Thursday until 06:00 on Friday, with French authorities searching cars travelling into Lens for alcohol.

Fans without tickets for the match or fan zone have been told not to travel and alcohol will only be allowed in the fan zone. British police have told ticketless supporters to go to Lille, or another city with a fan zone, to watch the game as every game in Lens will have the same alcohol restriction.

So the ban will be in place for the Albania v Switzerland, and the Czech Republic v Turkey group games, as well as a round-of-16 match. England, Wales and Northern Ireland are all competing in the 24-team tournament, which is being held across France between 10 June and 10 July.

Police expect between 350,000 and 500,000 supporters to travel from the United Kingdom to the tournament. British police plan to act as "cultural interpreters" to prevent heavy-handed tactics against drunk and rowdy fans who may not cause serious trouble at the tournament. There were about 250,000 tickets sold to UK residents from 1.6m applications.

Fans are already being advised that they if they want to get tickets to the Confederations Cup for next year - when it will be held in Russia ahead of the World Cup in 2018 - they should get their applications in now - or buy them here. Russia are believed to be taking a more no-nonsense approach, and will not let fans enter the cities unless they have tickets in hand.

"There is no excuse for violence, disorder or anti-social behaviour at football matches," said Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for football policing. Troublemakers will be dealt with by French police in line with their laws and can expect a banning order on return to the UK."
England are among the favourites to lift the trophy in the continental championship.