POLICE raided three Bolton pubs in a crackdown on the showing of live Premiership football matches.
 
Officers and staff from Media Protection Services seized thousands of pounds worth of satellite receiving equipment in the raids yesterday.
 
The three pubs were: the Bowling Green pub in Eskrick Street, Brownlow Fold; the Kings Arms on Chorley Old Road; and the Masons Arms on Blackburn Road, Egerton.
 
Last month Bolton police wrote to pub landlords warning that anyone showing live English football matches broadcast by foreign television stations will be prosecuted and their equipment seized.
 
They also warned that licenses could be revoked, fines imposed and about the possibility of imprisonment.
 
Rob Taylor, landlord of the Bowling Green, one of the pubs raided on Monday when £2,000 of equipment was seized, has vowed to fight any prosecution in court.
 
Philip Spurgeon from Bolton police defended the seizing the satellite equipment.
 
"All licensees in Bolton had been warned of the possible repercussions of illegally broadcasting Premier League football matches," he said.