A quintet of East Lancashire darts players are set to do battle with the country's finest in the Embassy Gold Cup Great Britain Finals.

Following their success in the Lancashire qualifiers, Clitheroe hot-shot Andy Gudgeon takes his place in the individuals while Hyndburn duo Debbie Baxter and Heather Draper, and Rossendale pairing Paul Baines and Mark Aspinall line up in the doubles.

Mark, 34, steps in for Burnley player Tony Clarke to make his first ever appearance in the tournament -- but not through lack of trying!

"I've only ever got to the semi-final stage of the qualifiers so it'll be nice to turn out for the big one," said Mark who plays for Waterfoot Conservative Club, Craven Heifer (Clitheroe) and Blackburn in the Superleague.

"Paul and I have been playing together for around two years and have managed to win a fair number of competitions.

"We fell at the final hurdle in March's Hyndburn Open but our appearance in the Gold Cup will certainly be our finest achievement to date."

Certain to be watching on with interest as the local heroes take the oche is Lancashire Superleague secretary Danny Burns, who has been sponsored to attend at the Lakeside by Graham High of Clitheroe firm, Water World Sculptures.

"I really believe Lancashire have a chance of walking away with the lot this year," he said.

"I've high hopes for Andy who's had a great season and is ranked number 13. Heather and Debbie have been a fine pairing for many years and recently helped the county win the British title.

"They've also faired well in tournaments over in America and Canada so they're well-equipped to handle the pressures of the big stage."

The prestigious event has been brought forward to this Saturday in order to beat the Government ban on tobacco sponsorship.

It is being staged at the undisputed home of world darts, Lakeside Country Club, as way of paying tribute to Embassy.

"It's a very sad situation for the sport of darts," said the British Darts Organisation's Olly Croft. "We are losing an outstanding sponsor partnership through no fault of our own. We are more than happy to continue, but unfortunately blinkered legislation prevents that from happening."

This will be the 26th staging of the Embassy Gold Cup, which has been a permanent fixture on the BDO calendar since 1978.

It began as a Men's Singles and Pairs event, but in 1980 the Women's Singles and Pairs were added to make it one of the most popular tournaments in darts.