THE name of non-league football in the North-East has once again been dragged through the mud after gangs of hooligans caused mayhem on town centre streets.

About 100 thugs rampaged through the streets of Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, on Saturday, smashing up a pub and town centre shops, ahead of the home side's FA Trophy third round tie with Bishop Auckland.

Trouble broke out inside the non-league ground three times and the match was held up as police and stewards cleared an estimated 40 troublemakers from the pitch. Three people were arrested.

Police are compiling a report on the violence, which will be forwarded to the Football Association.

Last night, Burton Albion officials branded the thugs who followed Bishop Auckland down to Staffordshire as "atrocious" and "a disgrace".

Bishops manager Tony Lee said the problems had been caused by a group of supporters which the club had not seen before, and he believed they had been using the trip to "make a day of it" and were not real fans.

Nonetheless, the incident is sure to tarnish the reputation of the club, once known as the country's greatest amateur side.

The problem of violence caused by part-time supporters mirrors that of the Misfits, a group linked with nearby amateur side Tow Law. The group was recently branded the most active gang of hooligans in non-league football.

The Misfits are believed to attend only a small minority of games, but have been responsible for trouble at a succession of away fixtures.

Before Saturday's kick-off, damage was caused to a pub and furniture shop near Burton Albion's Eton Park ground, which police blamed on visiting fans. And within minutes of kick-off, fighting broke out at the game, which was not being policed.

The club was forced to draft in 45 officers from a match at nearby Stoke City and elsewhere to help stewards restore order.

Just before half-time, club officials announced that fans would not be allowed to change ends, but a large group started to walk across the pitch in defiance.

Although they were forced back by police, they tried again with 15 minutes of the match remaining, causing referee Andre Mariner to delay the game for two minutes.

Tony Kirkland, football secretary at Burton Albion, said: "The supporters that came down with Bishop Auckland were atrocious, a disgrace."

Inspector Michael Smith, of Staffordshire Police, said about 250 supporters travelled from the North-East, "including a troublesome element of about 100".

The crowd was dispersed without further incident after the game, and the three arrested - two believed to be from the region - were charged with public order offences and released on police bail.

An FA spokesman said: "In cases like this, we would always wait for certainly the referee's report and, if the police were going to make a report, we would want to receive it before making any comment."

Match report - Football tabloi