MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) - Masked men burst into the main polling centre in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica on Sunday, throwing tear gas and smashing ballot boxes during an election that the West hopes will help integrate Serbs and Albanians, witnesses said.

The Sveti Sava school where the attack took place houses around half the polling stations on the Serb side of the ethnically-divided town.

Election officials, including members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), fled and the police closed off the area with two hours of voting still to go, witnesses and the Serbian state news agency Tanjug said.