SOUTHAMPTON fans have been warned that the club may be forced to close sections of the Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium next season if they are unable to curb supporters standing in seated areas.

The club are joining forces with the Premier League to promote an awareness campaign in a bid to stem the problem.

But John Smith, from the Football Licensing Authority, insisted: "The bottom line is that if fans persist in standing despite the club's wishes, then the only organisation they will be hurting is the club.

"It would be nigh on impossible to eject all the offenders during a game, but the council might be forced to cut the capacity or close problem areas."

Speaking at a quarterly fans' forum staged at the stadium, director Andrew Cowen pointed out that the principal area of concern for the football club was the Northam End where around 3,000 fans stand - some out of choice, and others through necessity because of those standing around them.

He said: "We try to give the fans what they want but we have to administer this within the confines of the law. We are in danger here of a head-on collision.

"An awareness campaign had great success at Leeds who have a reputation for having some of the less user-friendly fans. They had a dialogue with the Premier League's safety people and this has significantly reduced the problem of standing at Elland Road.

"We are looking for co-operation rather than coercion. We are not unrealistic enough to expect fans to sit there as though they are in the fifth form of a religious studies class at school, and to politely applaud or tut-tut.

"We want them to support the team and to keep the current level of noise. But the fact remains that

the law requires fans to remain seated through the bulk of the game otherwise the city council can take the ball away."

Cowen said they were looking at ideas at how to get their message across. One idea put forward was a public meeting of fans, another was to train police cameras on the fans and possibly send snap shots of supporters to their homes, politely asking them to sit down.

The Saints director feared that if the FLA or the city council did close off blocks of seating to hammer home the message, many innocent fans would get caught up. "I get lots of letters from fans who have bought seats in the Northam end and find they cannot see because their view is blocked," added Cowen.

"We don't want to force people to move or ban the first row if they stand, and then the second and so on. But we may have to do that.

"It may be that fans receive a photo showing them standing and they will be warned if they do it again their seat will be taped up, or they will lose their season ticket for being in breach of ground regulations."

Kathryn Robinson, from the Premier League, said: "There are plenty of people who feel the terrace debate should be re-opened, but this is not about a return to terracing, but the very specific problem of standing in seated areas.

"Local authorities have the power to reduce capacity, so we are trying to address the problem, not just at Southampton, but at all Premier League clubs who are being treated in the same way."