An evening of playing darts has raised over £17,000 for a hospice, with thanks to its newly appointed patron. 

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Darts Championships hosted the darts challenge and raffle in conjunction with its official charity, Haven House, at Alexandra Palace over the Christmas period. 

In total, £17, 350 was raised for the Woodford Green hospice based in High Road.

The biggest donation of the night came from bookmakers William Hill, who gave £9,000 to the charity after player Adrian Lewis performed a '9 dart finish'.  

The relationship with World Snooker and the PDC came about through patron Barry Hearn's association with the sporting industry. 

Mr Hearn, the former chairman at Leyton Orient, has raised over £350,000 since he first became involved with the charity back in 2011.

Haven House chief executive, Mike Palfreman, said: "This is always a really fun event, darts fans really get into the spirit of things and always give generously to our raffles and darts challenges."

The money will be spent on providing services such as therapeutic yoga and music therapy sessions at the hospice's new holistic centre.