A BULLSEYE for a Bolton pub landlord meant he was able to honour a £5,000 promise to his pregnant girlfriend.

When Douglas Stoneley-Hulme, licensee of The Antelope in Kearsley, heard about a national computer darts tournament he promised his girlfriend, Claire Anderson, that he would win the prize money for their first baby -- due in August.

To his amazement Douglas, aged 28, struck it lucky and was the first person in the country to achieve a nine dart finish, scooping the £5,000 cash prize.

The competition was organised by Leisure Link, suppliers of itbox -- a multi-media games machine offering more than 20 games -- and challenged anyone playing Phil Taylor's Darts on the machine to get from 501 to 0 with only nine darts.

Around 1,800 pubs took part in the tournament and more than 220,000 plays were recorded before Douglas's win.

Video games enthusiast, Douglas was keen to encourage customers at his Manchester Road pub to have a go and ended up becoming addicted to the game himself. That was when he promised girlfriend Claire, aged 30, that he would win the money.

He said: "I had a few goes and tried to get customers involved, but it's really addictive, so I was practising most days.

"The prize money started at £500 and gradually rose to £5,000, that's when I told Claire I'd win it for us and the baby, so it was ironic that I did. When I rang to tell her she didn't believe me at first!"

Douglas was presented with the cheque by darts World Champion Phil 'The Power' Taylor on Monday.

The couple now plan to spend the money on making their first baby's arrival truly special.