South Yorkshire Police was accused yesterday of ordering the removal of the banner of the Orgeave Truth and Justice Campaign when it was raised at Barnsley Football Club on Saturday.

As reported in the Star on Tuesday, Barnsley FC fans marking the 30th anniversary of the start of the 1984-85 miners' strike took the banner to Barnsley's home game against Nottingham Forest.

Soon after the banner was raised Barnsley FC stewards moved in, ordering fans to take it down.

It is now believed they were acting on the orders of police at the ground - and that police also ordered the removal of another fan's banner which bore the words "the people united will never be defeated."

South Yorkshire Police is under investigation by Independent Police Complaints Commission over its role in violence against pickets at Orgreave coke depot in South Yorkshire on June 18 1984.

Rob Gant, who has supported Barnsley FC since he was a child, said: "The stewards' argument was that they had the police in their ear from the control room saying 'get them banners down' so there was nothing they could do about it."

Mr Gant co-founded the Barnsley supporters' fanzine, the banner of which sports the "the people united" slogan.

"We hung up our banner. Stewards took it down. We went to retrieve it and had this conversation with the stewards when they said it was South Yorkshire Police who told them to take it down," said Gant. "The stewards said they were Barnsley lads themselves but were just doing as they were told."

The Orgreave banner bears the words: "Thirty years of Lies - No Justice - No Peace - Never Forget - Never Forgive," and the "Coal Not Dole" symbol.

Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign wants a public inquiry into the scandal of the picket line violence.

The Morning Star made repeated calls to Barnsley FC media office for comment but calls were not returned. South Yorkshire Police declined to immediately comment.