A RAIL strike is threatening to mar one of the biggest footballing occasions in the North-East.

Thousands of fans going to Sunderland's FA Cup quarter final clash with Sheffield United, at the Stadium of Light, on Sunday face travel chaos as part of the public transport system shuts down.

The Tyne and Wear Metro is closing due to industrial action by members of the RMT and Amicus unions.

While there will be a service on Tyneside until 7pm, it will be cut short at 2pm on Wearside.

It means Black Cats fans will not be able to get home on the system after the match.

Metro operator Nexus made the decision after Northumbria Police raised concerns over crowd safety.

A Nexus spokesman said: "If we do not close early, there could be thousands of people milling around the stations, no trains to take them and no staff to move them on."

Rail operator Arriva will run a service every 30 minutes from Sunderland station to the Stadium of Light, throughout the day.

A 30,000-strong crowd is expected at the match.

The entire Metro network will close from 7pm tomorrow until 7am on Sunday, then close again from 7pm on Sunday until 6am on Tuesday.