A HERO police officer has told how he was kicked and stamped on by a rampaging mob of more than 20 Glasgow Rangers fans during the shocking violence that marred the Uefa Cup Final in Manchester.

Pc Mick Regan, 47, was battered on the ground as he slipped after helping a colleague under attack from bottle-throwing fans.

In dramatic scenes captured by police cameras, the former Territorial Army corporal is seen being kicked, punched and stamped on by the gang of thugs.

He was lucky to escape with only sore ribs and a wound to his arm - after being dragged from the fray by a Good Samaritan.

The officer from Offerton, Stockport, who is based at Longsight, said the scenes were the worst violence he has witnessed in his 23-year career. Pc Regan's ordeal began as Rangers took on Zenit St Petersburg in the Uefa Cup Final at Eastlands. Trouble flared after a technical fault meant up to 20,000 fans in Piccadilly Gardens to watch the match on a giant screen were left with no picture.

Following the match, violent clashes continued along Market Street, Oldham Street and Newton Street, with riot squads sent into to try to control the crowds.

Pc Regan said: "We were told to go to Piccadilly Gardens and from the outset, we were bombarded with bottles and cans.

"It was unbelievable; it was frightening, on a different scale from any other match I have worked. It seemed the vast majority were drunk and they just wanted to cause trouble.

"A lot of the fans were okay and just asking for directions, but there was a large hard core." As the trouble wore on, Pc Regan and colleagues found themselves being pushed down Newton Street by a `solid mass' of snarling fans hurling missiles. At first, I thought we could hold them," he said.

"Then they overran us. The crowd was extremely hostile and made up of men and women of all ages. As we were forced back down Newton Street I saw a colleague being attacked by six or seven fans and I went to help. Then a lad with a bottle threw it at me from about 3 or 4ft and it hit me on the elbow. I remember moving backwards to try to avoid being hit again, but next thing I was on the floor.

"My initial reaction was `we're in trouble here' and I saw the other officers had been pushed back and I was on my own. I could feel the crowd kicking me in the side, but my body armour was protecting me. I managed to get up, but I'd lost my baton and had nothing to defend myself with. I tried to run, but I think I must have been winded."

Pc Regan was saved from serious injury by a fan he thought was going to attack him.

"I saw two lads coming from my right," he said, "and I thought they were going to have a go. But one of them shouted `I'm British Army, I'm a medic'. He grabbed me by the collar and he propelled me up the street.

"Then one of our vans came round the corner, he threw me in the back of it and off he went.

"Thank God."

Back at Longsight station, Pc Regan was patched up by the police doctor, then later went to hospital to have the wound dressed.

"The body armour protected me from the kicks and the arm injury is only a puncture wound from the bottle," he said.

"I feel lucky, whoever that Army lad was he deserves a medal."

He said he is unlikely to ever forget `the battle of Piccadilly'.

"The fans we met coming from the stadium were as good as gold," he said, "but the people who were kicking off were drunk and they were out for trouble.

"I know that they will say it's a minority - but a few thousand is a big minority."

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