'Matches across the country cost policing £70m it doesn't get back from football clubs'

Commissioner calls for those running profitable events to pay for their own security as part of sweeping reforms

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FOOTBALL clubs should contribute more to the £70 million cost of policing their matches, the head of the Metropolitan Police has said.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called for a "polluter pays approach", and questioned why organisers of events which require policing to support their security do not pay for it.

It comes after Sir Mark called for the creation of 12 to 15 bigger police forces as part of what he described as "the first serious reform of our policing model in over 60 years".

It has been reported how Sir Mark had said the current system of 43 county forces had not "been fit for purpose for at least two decades".

He added that bigger forces would be better able to utilise modern technology and would reduce "expensive" governance and support functions.

Sir Mark, below, said: "The 43-force model was designed in the 1960s and hasn't been fit for purpose for at least two decades.

"It hinders the effective confrontation of today's threats and stops us fully reaping the benefits of technology.