ABOUT 400 Brentford fans vented their frustration outside the Fraser Eagle Stadium following the late abandonment of Saturday's game.

Police were called as a precaution after exits were blocked to stop cars from leaving the stadium, although the police said there was no trouble and made no arrests.

Some of the angry Bees’ faithful were allowed onto the Coppice Terrace to inspect the surface for themselves while Brentford manager Andy Scott tried to calm frayed tempers among the visiting fans.

He said: "Bury is round the corner and that was called off in the morning. We have made lots of calls this week to check the game was on as we needed to let the supporters know. We had a call on Friday saying there was no problem and they have had sheets on the pitch."

But Stanley chief executive Rob Heys insisted the pitch was better than recent surfaces and the club was amazed when the game was called off.

"We’re still of the opinion that it was fit to play," he said.

"We were very mindful that there were lots from Brentford having to come a long way up from London. We took every sensible precaution. We didn’t just appoint one of our friendly neighbourhood refs."

Heys, whose friend came over to watch the match from Milan, also suggested the visitors were less keen to get the match on.

"The Brentford management team seemed to be having a word with the ref. He went from being quite positive to being against having anything to do with it.

"I went straight down to the ref’s dressing room and the reason he gave was safety.

"The pitch was certainly heavy but if we’re honest it was ten times better than at Peterborough where we played on Tuesday. That’s one of the things that really annoys us - there’s no consistency."

Heys estimates the postponement could cost Stanley £20,000 in gate receipts, match programmes and pies, but has offered a "goodwill gesture" olive branch to Bees’ fans.

He said: "Outside the ground they were quite annoyed but no way would we ever criticise them. We will look to reduce prices for the rearranged fixture - for all supporters."