FIVE Swindon Town fans charged with affray following Gillingham's game against Swindon have had the charges against them dropped.

All five defendants were arrested in Medway after Gillingham's 3-0 win over Swindon in a League One clash in January.

The charges, which had already been reduced from violent disorder, was withdrawn at Medway Magistrates Court.

Darren Crew, 28, Paul Telling, 21, Anthony Betterton, 26 and a 17-year-old who cannot be identified for legal reasons will now return to court to face public order charges.

They are all from Swindon.

Kevin Meiklejohn, 28, from Chippenham, faced the public order charges on May 4 and received a conditional discharge of 24 months.

Betterton will reappear in court on June 15.

The other defendants will re-appear on May 26.

The trouble after the game sparked a war of words.

Gillingham's football safety officer Malcolm Rous blamed large numbers of Town fans for the trouble which followed the match.

The Town fans were kept inside the ground after the game in a bid to minimise the disturbance. But Town fans said there had been provocation from both sides.