A TEENAGER has appeared in court charged with football violence at a Swindon Town match.

Matthew Greener, 18, of The Hunt Close, Semington, did not enter a plea to breaching the public order act by behaving in a threatening or abusive way, when he appeared at Bournemouth magistrates' court on Tuesday.

The charge relates to violence between rival fans during a Swindon Town match in Bournemouth on December 18.

Greener and eight more men from Wiltshire will reappear at the magistrates' court on May 24 to enter pleas.

At the hearing seven men from Swindon, Chippenham and Devizes areas pleaded not guilty to the same charge.

They were released on conditional bail.

District judge Roger House said it was a 'frightening and terrifying' experience for scores of Christmas shoppers who witnessed the scenes.

Around 40 fans were caught up in the fracas in a busy shopping centre near Bournemouth's Dean Court stadium.