The Government has taken position on the oche to in a bid to boost adult numeracy learning.

Minister for Skills and Vocational Education, Ivan Lewis, visited the World Professional Darts Championships at Lakeside this week to promote the "Get On" campaign for adult skills.

Mr Lewis described darts was a fun way to improve maths skills.

“I hope that the Get On campaign material we have produced for the Lakeside Championships, including new scratchcards and "check-out" calculators to publicise details of free courses, will inspire people to improve their maths to help them in all walks of life, and not just darts," he said.

The move is the latest attempt to improve the maths skills of the 14.9 million adults in England said to lack the numeracy skills of an 11-year-old.

Campaign supporter Carol Vorderman said that a sport like darts can help people feel less intimidated by the thought of going back to education.

“A sport like darts is great, as it shows that maths isn’t a dry subject," she said. "It’s astonishing how fast darts players calculate their score and then deduct it from a target like 501."

More information about numeracy classes is available from 0800 100 900.