World Billiards champ Dave Causier is special guest at Ashington Veterans and Elders Institute

Michael Henderson, Mark Taylor, Ben Coates and Lol Seddon stepped up to pit their skills against the best in the world.

Causier, who has nine world titles and numerous other titles to his name, was at the very top of his game, and in the four frames of 45 minutes each, he scored a massive 2,604 points, making three breaks of between 100 and 200, further breaks of 217, 237, 341, 344 and a brilliant 578 – which works out at about 250 shots without missing.

Kevin Green, the institute’s secretary, said: “He played to a full house of 60, seven of whom had travelled from Carlisle, held a question and answer session, joined us for pie and peas, drew the raffle for us, posed for photos with us and told us how impressed he was with the venue, the table and the hospitality we showed him.

“He’s the fourth professional we’ve had in four years, but the first billiards pro we’ve ever had. We weren’t sure how the tickets would go, but we couldn’t get any more into the place.”

He added: “The game of billiards is alive and well in Ashington, as the attendance showed, but the game overall is nowhere near as popular as snooker. We are doing all we can to keep it alive so masters like Dave, who’s been at the top for over 20 years, can earn some kind of living from the sport that was around long before snooker was.”