RESIDENTS of a North-East village are gearing themselves up for an afternoon of mayhem in a traditional Shrove Tuesday football match.

Hundreds of people are expected to line the streets of Sedgefield, County Durham, today for the game, which has been held in the village for more than 970 years.

The game will kick-off at 1pm when the leather ball, just larger than a cricket ball, is passed three times through the bull ring on the village green.

Villagers will chase the ball through the streets and, in line with tradition, it will be "kidnapped" to a nearby village.

The ball will eventually return to Sedgefield, when it will be kicked to both the north and south ends of the village.

The winner of the game is the person who returns the ball to the green and passes it through the hoop three times.

That is a rough outline, but as there are no boundaries, no teams, no pitch and few rules, anything could happen. There is no time limit, but the game usually finishes at about 4pm.

Police have warned motorists to expect some disruption during the game.

A spokesman said: "Due to the nature of the game, it is clearly impossible to identify which roads may be affected.

"Police slow signs will be placed on approach roads, from mid-morning. Drivers needing to go to Sedgefield are advised to avoid the village in the afternoon."

Another of the region's traditional Shrove Tuesday ball games has had to be called off, because of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis.

The football match in Alnwick, Northumberland, has been cancelled for the first time in nearly 30 years.