Families deny Euro fans' violence

Police arrested several Britons in Albufeira on Tuesday night

The relatives of Britons arrested after allegedly being involved in violent clashes in Portugal have protested their innocence.

Portuguese police said 33 English football fans had been arrested on Tuesday, with a dozen held on Monday.

The mother of a 19-year-old archaeology and ancient history student arrested in Albufeira said he had tried to run away when trouble erupted outside a bar.

Josephine Parkes' son John was among 12 Britons due in court on Wednesday.

They were sitting outside a pub, having a drink, and some trouble started a couple of tables away Josephine Parkes, mother of arrested fan Blair condemns Portugal violence

Mrs Parkes, from Dudley, West Midlands, said John, who is studying archaeology at the University of Birmingham, had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She had relied on friends of her son who were with him on the Algarve to find out what was happening.

"They were sitting outside a pub, having a drink, and some trouble started a couple of tables away," she said.

"The police came in with their riot shields and the horses came and they were split up.

In handcuffs

"It was 24 hours before they found out he was in custody. They were worried sick."

Mrs Parkes, 55, said she thought she had spotted her son in handcuffs in news footage.

"I can't believe what has happened. They are respectable people who went out there just for a holiday - they didn't even have tickets for any games."

She criticised the Portuguese authorities for not communicating with the parents of those arrested.

I can't believe he would be a hooligan Margaret Williams, mother of arrested fan

The father of 19-year-old Jack Ashdown-Hobbs, from Beckley, near Oxford, confirmed his son had also been detained.

A neighbour said Jack and his brother Ned were "really lovely lads" who had never given their parents, Michael and Mary, any trouble.

The mother of another Briton detained on Monday night said he was a "lovely lad".

Margaret Williams, 55, from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, said she had not heard from her 21-year-old son Andrew and was worried about him.

'Very quiet'

"He must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said. "I can't believe he would be a hooligan."

The sister of 23-year-old Ricky Tsigarides from Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, also accused of violence, said he was "a darling".

A neighbour described him as a "most inoffensive young man" who did not have "an aggressive bone in his body".

Margaret Jackson, of Throckley, Newcastle upon Tyne, said she was relying on the television for updates after her "very quiet" son John, 22, was arrested.