THE Stanley Street Club’s Mick Taylor will be aiming to become the People’s Darts champion as he competes at the home of darts, the Lakeside, next month.

Mick is the North West qualifier for the John Smith’s sponsored event after coming through some gruelling rounds.

John Smith’s have organised the competition with pubs and clubs across England as they look to unearth local darting talent in the competition’s inaugural year.

Mick came through qualifying at the Stanley Street Club and then went on to the North West finals at King George’s Hall in Blackburn.

There he was the best out of 80 qualifiers, seeing off Blackburn’s Daz Place in the final.

"That was a huge scalp for him, especially beating Daz in his own backyard," said Stanley Street Club owner Phil Miller.

Mick, 40, won a cheque for £1000 for his chosen charity - MacMillan nurses.

And now he will compete at Lakeside, Surrey, in early January where he will have a quarter-final against other regional qualifiers.

If he gets through that and the semi-final, then he will be the warm-up before the BDO World Darts final on January 11.

If he does win, Mick will also collect £14,000 for charity and receive a 12 month sponsorship deal from John Smith’s - which includes competing at the Torremolinos Open.

"It is a great achievement for Mick," said Phil. "It is a once in the lifetime event to compete at the capital of darts, Lakeside.

"He has only been playing for five years so it is huge for him. He will have plenty of support down there."

Mick said: "It is brilliant to have the chance to go to Lakeside where I hope I can keep performing well."