Hearts owner Ann Budge has hit out at a "tiny minority" of her club's support and vowed to increase surveillance in the stadium after reports of fighting and abuse in and around Tynecastle.

The Edinburgh club have been ordered to have a police presence at every home game, as well as additional stewarding, after alleged fighting between rivals fans before and after their Scottish Premiership match against Motherwell.

Hearts are also subject to a report by the SPFL match delegate which cites "excessive verbal abuse" against Dundee United manager Mixu Paatelainen during their December clash at Tynecastle.

Ms Budge said she was unable to defend such actions, and held the fans responsible for costing Hearts up to £50,000 to pay for extra policing.

She said in a statement: "I cannot begin to tell you how angry this makes me, when we are working so hard to put the club back at the heart of the community.

"Instead of talking proudly about the team’s superb performance, or indeed our supporters’ unprecedented loyalty, I am instead having to hold meetings with the authorities regarding how we are going to address this behaviour problem.

"Allowing a tiny minority of supporters to bring the club’s reputation into disrepute is something we will not tolerate.

"We will be clamping down on supporters who behave unacceptably. This will mean more stringent checks and more surveillance both inside and outside the stadium.

Addressing the reported abuse of Paatelainen from fans in the main stand, Ms Budge said: "While the manager was personally both understanding and pragmatic in his acceptance that 'this happens' it has been reported by the match delegate that this reached unacceptable proportions.

"As a consequence, additional stewarding will be put in place in this area of the stadium, along with video cameras, and any behaviour of this nature, in future, will be robustly dealt with."

Meanwhile, the Hearts owner said progress is being made on plan to demolish and replace the Main Stand at Tynecastle, with an announcement expected to be made in early March.