English and Scottish football officials and police officers have been meeting their French counterparts in Paris to discuss preparations for the World Cup in June. Security co-operation was the main focus and British police say they are extremely pleased with arrangements so far. Here's our correspondent in Paris Hugh Schofield:

Police liaison between the English and the French is already close but this was the first in a series of formal meetings bringing the Scots in too, intended to ensure that the World Cup remains trouble-free. French police fully admit that they turn to the English for advice on how to cope with crowd violence.

They were there at Euro 96 to observe and according to Assistant Chief Constable Tim Horace, the senior British police officer present today.

He said: "It is clear they have drawn useful lessons. It was very reassuring to hear that they clearly have been willing to come and to look and share best practice and to take it back home to put it into place in the French context and so we recognise what they are proposing to do, we welcome it and we are going to ensure the policing operation from the English police point of view fits very neatly into what they are establishing."

The question of ticketing was indirectly dealt with at today's meeting. Demand for seats is far in excess of availability, which could cause problems if thousands of ticketless fans decide to cross the Channel for a key match.