While regulars at the Queen Vic and Rovers Return are often seen enjoying a good game of darts, a new report published today claims that this beloved pub institution faces the threat of extinction.

The study, commissioned by the online bookmaker Blue Square, blames the game's decline on the rise of the gastro-pub.

The hallowed area once reserved for the oche is now filled with dining tables and comfortable sofas for customers to lounge on. Their survey showed that instead of darts, 33 per cent of today's drinkers preferred a pub with adventurous food, and 27 per cent favoured extensive beer and wine lists. Comfy sofas took the vote of 15 per cent, and 14 per cent went for good music. Just one per cent preferred the chance to enjoy a game of darts. In fact, 34 per cent of young men said they preferred an evening at the cinema over the more traditional night out of a few pints and a game of darts with their mates - which found favour with 18 per cent.

The Daily Echo spoke to specialist darts shop owner, Yvonne Andrews of the Double Top Darts Shop in Winton, who said: "The shop has been open for 11 years now and we've been aware that there has been a bit of a dip because of the way pubs have changed. They didn't want to be seen as spit and sawdust-type places, they wanted to be more upmarket."

Fears over the future of this great British pub institution has seen the emergence of a new campaign, Save Our Darts (saveourdarts.com), which aims to have another 10,000 dart boards in pubs by 2017. The campaign has received the backing of darts legend Phil The Power' Taylor, who will be in Bournemouth next month for the Holsten Premier League Darts competition. Taylor, 46, was himself discovered playing in the pubs of Stoke on Trent. He went on to win 13 global titles, eight world matchplays and seven world grand prix.

However, the darts star warned that the game could be threatened with oblivion within a generation. "Darts has given me so many great opportunities and memories. Unless we get behind the campaign to Save Our Darts and encourage more landlords to install a board, the game really could be consigned to the history books in just 30 years," he said.

Professional Darts Corporation chief executive, Tim Darby, said: "Darts is now enjoying a real boom in terms of crowds and televised audiences, but increasingly fewer people are able to take part in their own pubs. It would be great if the current interest was reflected by pubs giving their punters the chance to take part in this great British sport. The solution is simple and it would be fantastic to see landlords restoring dartboards to their rightful place in pubs across the country."

But it is not all bad news - the report also showed that 66 per cent of Britons were nostalgic for the sport and would play if they had the chance and their local pub had a dartboard.

Double Top's Yvonne believes that the increased media coverage is indeed sparking a renewed interest.

She said: "It's a cheap sport to play and we get a lot of people coming to the shop who've seen it recently on TV. It's something that they can improve on at home and then go out and play with friends and family in pubs and social clubs."

So perhaps your local pub will soon be missing a few comfy sofas and filled instead with the cries of "Super! Smashing! Great!"

Bully for you...

Let's see what Bully's prize board has for you tonight:

  • darts is one of the oldest English pub games, some say it had its origins in the Middle Ages;
  • "We couldn't have more excitement if Elvis walked in and asked for a chip sandwich." Commentator Sid Wadell sums up the sport;
  • in the mid 19th century the game was sometimes played by using a blowpipe to fire a dart at the target;
  • the game of pub darts most likely had its origins in archery - it is sometimes known as arrows';
  • early dartboards reflected this legacy, and were in the form of miniature archery targets;
  • it became a serious pub game in the early 20th century after breweries started leagues across the country;
  • by the 1930s it was a popular game in the bars of England and parts of Wales;
  • during the Second World War darts was played in NAAFIs, and the game was taken back across the Atlantic by US servicemen;
  • the game enjoyed a massive surge in publicity after darts was shown on TV for the first time in the 1960s.
  • The 1970s and '80s produced the game's first superstars, including Eric Crafty Cockney' Bristow, Jocky Wilson and John Lowe.
  • Now the game has spread worldwide across six continents.