FOOTBALL players will not be the only ones to receive support during the World Cup.

Warrington police is launching a crackdown on domestic violence that will run for the duration of the tournament to support victims targeted during this time and lock up persistent offenders.

According to the statistics, large scale events such as footballing contests see alcohol flow more freely and domestic violence incidents increase.

PC Rachel Griffiths, a domestic violence officer, said: "Police records show alcohol is often a factor linked to violent behaviour and over the coming weeks there will no doubt be lots of parties at people's homes and sessions down the pub involving booze.

"In an ideal world, this would not be a problem. However, we cannot pretend there are no risks.

"We must be prepared to deal with all aspects of violent behaviour and that includes domestic abuse."

Specially trained officers will be on hand to attend domestic crimes and support victims.

The aim is to reduce repeat victimisation, increase the number of arrests for domestic assault and, as a consequence, bring to justice more of the people responsible for committing this type of crime.

PC Griffiths added: "Long gone are the days where police do not get involved in domestic incidents.

"We already work very closely with the officers who respond to 999 calls to ensure we are alerted every time they are involved in a domestic-related incident.

"We'll be taking that partnership one step further during the World Cup and actually attending incidents."