GILLINGHAM closed their ticket office on Tuesday night to protect their staff from a handful of abusive Wigan supporters.

The travelling supporters were angry at the late cancellation of the game which came just two hours before kick off, with many demanding their money back.

It takes around four and half hours to drive from Wigan yet the game was called off at 5.45pm by referee Steve Tomlin who decided the Gordon Road side of the pitch along the touchline and five-yards onto the pitch was frozen.

He admitted the pitch looked playable when he first arrived at Priestfield and it was not until he went for a warm up that he found it to be much harder than first appeared.

Gillingham chairman Paul Scally said: "It did not occur to us that the game might be off or else we would have asked for an inspection earlier.

"Personally I thought the pitch was OK, but I'm not the referee who has responsibility for players' safety, so I can't blame him for erring on the side of caution."

Wigan Athletic press officer Chris Ammonds said: "What was frustrating was that there was absolutely no warning that the game was in any doubt.

"If the fans, players and coaching staff had known there was any chance the game would not go ahead decisions could have been made earlier.

"There were 250 fans who made the journey. We were not aware about trouble at the ticket office. Most of our fans did not get to the ground because we were able to get messages to the supporters' coaches who turned around at Rochester."