Football stars charged with burglary over nightclub handbag thefts

Southampton stars Bradley Wright-Phillips, 23, and Nathan Dyer, 20, will appear in court on July 8.

They were allegedly caught on CCTV entering the unlocked room at Bar Bluu with a group of friends during the early hours of February 28.

Bradley Wright-Phillips, left, and Nathan Dyer have been charged with burglary

Staff later reported that three mobile phones, £145 cash, student cards and cigarettes had been stolen from three handbags.

The bags belonged to £5.50-an-hour barmaids who had spent the night serving the stars cocktails and laying on VIP treatment.

It takes a barmaid at Bar Bluu a week-and-a-half to earn the stolen amount of £145 - £8,000 per week striker Wright-Phillips earns that in just 27 minutes.

Wright-Phillips, son of former England star and television pundit Ian Wright, and Dyer, himself on a weekly wage of £5,000, arrived at Portsmouth Central police station at 10.50am today in a silver Vauxhall Omega taxi and were ushered inside through a back entrance before they were charged.

Wearing a cream-coloured tracksuit and white Nike trainers, Dyer pulled a hooded top over his head to hide his face from waiting newsmen.

Wright-Phillips, also wearing a cream hooded top and dark blue jeans, carried a bottle of water.

Southampton Football Club has already imposed the biggest punishment possible on both players for late night socialising.

Each was fined two weeks' wages. They were also dropped from the squad for one match because of their behaviour.

Police have released photos of three other men captured on CCTV in the staff room in a bid to trace them.

It is thought the three men may be from the London area and had travelled to the nightclub for that night.

Ian Wright, 44, described Bradley Wright-Phillips' behaviour as 'disgraceful' after footage of the incident leaked out.

The former England ace told listeners on his drive-time radio show his son had brought shame on the entire family.

The father-of-five also hit out at footballers' lifestyles and said the root of his son's problems was mixing with the wrong people.

However, he insisted his son had not committed a crime, adding: 'I will stick by him. My conscience is clean because I know he did not steal anything and he knows he has made a major mistake.'