PHIL ‘The Power’ Taylor made a visit to the region yesterday to give a darts masterclass to some female players.

The 15 times World Champion was at JJB Sports shop in Darlington at midday today to put Darlington District Ladies Darts League through their paces.

Several members of the league got to play with Mr Taylor, at the store on East Street, after he had signed autographs and taken pictures with fans.

Karen Wright, 57, secretary of the league said: “Phil is a terrific player, the best - its breathtaking to watch him play.

“I’ve been running the league for 20 years and (to meet him) is the pinnacle of my career as secretary.

“It’s lovely for all the rest of the players to have the chance to play with him and pick up some tips.”

Mr Taylor said: "It's nice to come along to these events and have a laugh with the fans and see how darts is at a local level.

"It's where it all started for most players so to come back to the grassroots level of the sport and see how people play is brilliant. “They gave me a warm welcome, but I could see they all wanted to give me a decent game and some of them did.”

Mr Taylor also made an appearance in the region on Thursday night in Newcastle at the McCoys Premier League of Darts.

Darts in Darlington is becoming increasingly popular - the league, which is made up of eight teams, play throughout the year at various pubs in Darlington.

In the past twenty years the league has raised more than £40,000 for charity. Mrs Wright asked Mr Taylor to sign a dart board, which the league plan to auction off for charity.

Any teams interested in joining the league should contact Mrs Wright on 01325-284-540.