Manchester City and Manchester Utd spend £1.8m on policing

Manchester United have the second biggest policing bill in the Premier League

Manchester City and Manchester United paid £1.69m more in policing costs than their five Premier League London rivals combined last season.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Tottenham and West Ham were charged £178,047 between them by the Metropolitan Police for security inside and immediately outside their stadiums.

Manchester City had the biggest bill in England's top flight, paying £944,195 to Great Manchester Police (GMP) closely followed by United, who spent £925,126.

The figures were obtained by the Press Association using a Freedom of Information request.

The Metropolitan Police said as a rule it not did police inside stadiums and could only charge for policing on property owned by a club.

"We're there to prevent crime and disorder," said a spokesperson. "If there are problems - or intelligence to suggest there will be problems - then we will police inside, but as a general rule we withdrew from that two or three years ago."

GMP said the higher costs were due to a higher police presence in the grounds and immediately outside them.

Last season, six games were given a category C classification - the highest risk category.

They were the Manchester derby at Etihad Stadium, Liverpool v Manchester United, Tottenham v Arsenal, West Ham v Spurs, Crystal Palace v Charlton in the League Cup and Leicester v Everton, when the Foxes received the Premier League trophy.

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