Hearse driven onto pitch at Gateshead pre-season football match by masked men

A pre-season friendly football match between Gateshead and local rivals Dunston was abandoned on Friday 21 July after masked men drove a hearse onto the pitch and abandoned it.

Several masked men drove the hearse and a second vehicle, a silver car, to the centre of the pitch at half-time during the match at Dunston’s UTS Stadium in Tyne and Wear.

They drove the vehicles from the car park into the ground and spun them around in circles, throwing leaflets from the cars’ windows.

Two men wearing ski masks then exited the hearse and joined the second car, which was driven out of the stadium, breaking through a barrier.