CHARLTON fans travelling to Preston this weekend will be charged two and half times more than home supporters for equivalent seats.

The Lancashire club have reduced admission prices for home fans to £10 behind the goal and £12 along the sides, or half that for concessions.

But Charlton supporters will be charged £25, or slightly less if bought in advance, with concessions set at £15 and £12.

Football League rules allow clubs to offer four special local promotions which means they can sell cheaper ticket to home fans in a bid to increase their attendance.

But the rule came under fire from Addicks fan Rick Everitt in his column in Kent Messenger Group newspaper the Bexley Extra.

He said: "Amazingly, the Football League have a rule that specifically allows clubs to rip off away fans four times a season.

"If this was discrimination by race or gender it would be illegal. But apparently it’s OK to divide people by the colour of their scarves."

One of the main concerns is that Charlton fans could try to gain cheaper admission to the game by sitting in the home end.

Mr Everitt said: "If Charlton operated a similar pricing policy, it’s highly likely the local police would intervene.

"After all, it’s a cash incentive to ignore segregation rules and therefore a potential threat to public order. That’s unlikely to be an issue for Saturday’s televised match, given that Charlton have only sold 400-odd tickets."

Charlton chief executive Peter Varney said he was sympathetic to the supporters' feelings, but there was little the Addicks could do.

"I totally understand the emotive reaction of our supporters to this Saturday's match pricing," he told the club's website.

"However, there is little we can do as Preston are acting within Football League rules.

"It is extremely disappointing that with the match being televised live with a 5.20pm kick-off and no trains back to London after the match, that Preston have chosen this game to charge our adult fans who buy a ticket on the day two and a half times what they will charge their own supporters."

He added: "As a league, we should be doing everything we can to attract higher levels of away support as it adds to the atmosphere inside the grounds, and this type of inequitable pricing does nothing to encourage supporters to travel to away matches."