Gateshead FC pre season friendly interrupted by a hearse driving onto the pitch

A pre-season friendly between two non-league sides from the north east, Gateshead and Dunston, was abandoned after two cars driven by masked men drove onto the pitch.

Clubs up and down the country are getting ready for the start of the football season, which is just a week or two away depending on what level in the football pyramid they're on.

Teams in the Premier League get to go abroad for their games, with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United currently in the US.

Lower down the leagues most clubs don't really have that luxury, although League Two Wrexham are a bit different and are even playing against those two Premier League sides.

Some of the division way down the pyramid are kicking off in just over a week's time, with fans of Bury FC getting to return to Gigg Lane for the first time in a number of years.

So it's no surprise that teams are dialling up their preparations for the campaign to come, getting in a few more friendly games before it all kicks off.

National League side Gateshead were taking on local rivals Dunston FC from the Northern Premier League Division One East on Friday.

However the match was abandoned at half time for an 'incident,' with some supporters in the ground confirming that the situation saw a hearse and another car drive onto the pitch and perform doughnuts, whilst throwing paper out of the windows.

Fans inside the ground reported that two masked men got out of the cars after driving onto the pitch and abandoned the hearse in the middle of the pitch.

Another video saw the second car drive through a closed gate to get off the ground at the end of the incident, whilst the other car parked up.

According to the Northern Echo, a police helicopter was seen on the scene following the situation.

The match was locked at 1-1 when the game had to be stopped.

We have reached out to Northumbria Police and Gateshead FC for a comment on the incident.