AN MP is trying to bring a major snooker tournament back to the Bournemouth International Centre.

Conor Burns is a huge fan of the sport and has held meetings with its promoter, Barry Hearn.

Mr Hearn has already brought top flights darts to the BIC and the MP hopes to do the same with snooker.

“Barry is a good chum of mine,” said Mr Burns, MP for Bournemouth West. “We have had lunch a few times.

“He knows the BIC really well already and there have been snooker events here in the past.

“He didn’t promise he would bring one, but he was positive and he thought the players would love it because Bournemouth is a lovely place.”

Bournemouth last hosted a major tournament, the UK Championship, in 2000.

Barry Hearn is now trying to reinvigorate the game by moving into new markets, bringing in some razzmatazz, and making some tournaments faster.

The World Championships held in Sheffield still attract 40,000 fans over 17 days but TV audiences are down from the sport’s 1980s peak.

Mr Hearn has made the BIC a fixture for the darts Premier League, which features the world’s top eight players and a £125,000 prize.

• THE world’s top snooker stars used to be regulars at the BIC.

It hosted the UK Championship from 1998 to 2000, with John Higgins beating Mark Williams 10-4 in the final year.

And in the previous two years it was the venue for the Grand Prix, one of the 10 ranking tournaments held in the country.

World champion Ken Doherty said at the time: “Bournemouth is a fantastic venue, one of the best. We get great crowds.”