MORE than 100 Newcastle United fans ‘destroyed’ a quiet village in less than an hour.

Three coaches containing 150 ‘rowdy’ Newcastle United fans pitched up outside the White Bull Pub, on Main Street, Gisburn, en route to the club’s Premier League match against Burnley at around 6pm last Monday.

The fans then ‘trashed’ the village, according to witnesses, including destroying Hallowe’en pumpkins outside the Delicious Deli and Cafe, in Park View.

Police officers were later sent to the White Bull pub to deal with the fans’ ‘anti-social behaviour’.

Steve O’Connor, who has managed the pub for 15 months, said: “Monday typically is a quiet night for us so when more than 100 football fans turned up it was a shock.

“The pub just got overrun. There were fans bouncing on the tables, swinging on lampshades and throwing beer everywhere. Some fans were throwing bottles in the street and kicking the pumpkins outside the deli.

“It took over an hour for seven of us to clean up the pub after they were here.

“If they stayed any longer then we would have phoned the police ourselves.

“They destroyed the village within an hour.”

Alex Howard, who has owned the award-winning gastropub for two years, said: “This is certainly not the kind of pub you would visit on a match day with a group of football fans.

“We must have been the first pub they visited near to Burnley. When the fans turned up and half of them behaved in a feral manner.

“We are an upmarket pub but what can you do when three coaches of football fans turn up?

“The other half were disgusted by their actions and did try to calm them down but it was difficult to do because they were already drunk when they arrived.

“Their behaviour got worse and worse. I have never seen anything like this happen in Gisburn before. When the fans departed we were left with a messed up pub.”

Cllr Richard Sherras, who represents the area, said: “The parish council is following it up with the football club. It’s unacceptable to invade a village and cause mayhem.”

A Newcastle spokesman said: “We have been made aware of what seems like unacceptable behaviour from a small minority of supporters.

“Obviously this is disappointing to hear as the majority of our fans behave impeccably when travelling home and away to support Newcastle. We always encourage supporters to represent the club in the best light when they travel.”