A major North East road is set to be closed tonight ahead of a popular gig being held in the region.

Sam Fender is set to play at St James’ Park tonight with the much-loved Geordie star set to take to the stage from 9pm.

However, fans and those travelling up to Newcastle might be in for a surprise as the A1 is set to be fully closed from 8pm onwards.

The closure is set to take place northbound between Junction 65 and Junction 67 covering the major road between Birtley and Coal House.

See the interactive map below to see where the closure is:

It comes as Metro customers have also been advised to plan ahead before both the Sam Fender and P!NK concerts taking place this weekend.

Extra bus and Metro services will be running, but it is vital that customers plan ahead to get to and from the respective concerts using public transport.

Customer Services Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis, said: “The fact that North East England is staging four sell-out stadium concerts in a single weekend will really showcase our region as a home for international cultural and sporting events.

“Public transport and the roads are going to be really busy before and after every concert, but particularly on Saturday 10 June when Sam Fender and Pink are playing at the same time.

Read next: 

For more quality journalism, subscribe to The Northern Echo for £1.50 a week here

“People need to plan ahead if they are going to any of the concerts – or if they think they might be making journeys around those times.”

Mr Lewis explained that in both cities some Metro stations will be closed just before the concerts end so they can manage the expected huge number of people safely and comfortably at the remaining stations.

Meanwhile, the price of merchandise at the Sam Fender concert has been revealed.

The prices of each piece of merch is listed below: 

- £20 for a poster

- £25 for a cap

- £20 for a scarf

- £20 for a tote bag

- £35 for a T-shirt