A survey of 1,000 regular pub-goers found that only 10 per cent of them had played darts in the last year - compared with 41 per cent five years ago. Not only that, but four out of 10 men in their twenties had never thrown a dart in their lives - and a similar number had no idea what a bullseye is worth.

As pubs up and down the country are gentrified, the percentage with a dart board has declined to 53 per cent. Blue Square, the online bookmaker which commissioned the study, has now helped launch a Save Our Darts campaign with the aim of installing a further 10,000 darts boards in pubs by 2017. The decline it is seeking to halt has been blamed on the rise of the gastro-pub. "Today, the area once reserved for the oche is filled with dining tables and comfortable sofas," said a Blue Square spokesman.

Phil "The Power" Taylor, the 13 times darts world champion, is among those appalled by the threat to his beloved sport. He said: "Unless we get behind the campaign to Save Our Darts and encourage more landlords to install a dart board, the game really could be consigned to the history books."

The survey showed modern drinkers prefer pubs with adventurous food (33 per cent), extensive beer and wine lists (27 per cent), comfortable sofas (15 per cent) and good music (14 per cent). Those salivating at the prospect of a good game of arrows was a tiny one per cent.

The gastro-pub is not totally to blame. While in days gone by teenage boys would include a dart board on their birthday wish lists, today they are more likely to be seduced by the excitement of computer games.

The game of darts is believed to have its origins in medieval times when archery tutors shortened arrows and had their students throw them at the bottoms of empty wine barrels. Soldiers later took some of the shortened arrows to ale houses to show off their skills. The game spread so successfully through the social classes that Henry VIII was reputed to play, and Anne Boleyn presented him with an ornate set of darts.