POLICE say the traffic situation around The Northern Echo Arena in Darlington is now under control.

Earlier, motorists were warned to avoid roads around the venue as thousands descended on the town for an evening of international rugby.

Tonight, the home of Darlington Mowden Park welcomed the England under-20s, who took on Scotland and the England Women who battled the Auld Enemy in a double header that is part of the RBS 6Nations competition.

The Northern Echo:

Traffic builds up en route to the games

Acting Inspector Gary O’Neill of Darlington Police had earlier said the force had no contingency plans to deal with the influx of traffic currently blocking roads leading to and from the arena.

England take opening honours

Urging drivers to stay away until traffic calms down he said: “There’s no contingency plans in place so I would advise people to keep away from the area.

“There is parking inside the ground but they’re not going to be able to cater for the crowd they’re expecting.”

One motorist, who had taken 40 minutes to get from the Morrisons roundabout to Blands Corner across the ring-road, said: "It's absolute bedlam."

Speaking at 8pm, Act Insp O'Neill said: "We have PCSOs helping out with traffic management. The situation is under control."

  • Caught up in the traffic or just want to tell us how good the games were? Email your experiences to newsdesk@nne.co.uk, comment below or tweet using hashtag #echorugby