Waltham Abbey’s Steve West has won his Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Pro Tour Card for the third consecutive year, becoming the first player to do so.

He followed up his stellar performance by qualifying for the second European Tour event of the season, to be played in Gibraltar in March.

The 39-year-old, who was born in Epping but now resides in Den Haag in the Netherlands, beat Wayne Thomas and Oliver Stell 5-3 before triumphing 5-2 over Johnny Haines in the last 16.

He then defeated Tim Martin by the same scoreline to win back his PDC Tour Card for the next two years.

West had to come through a field of 400 players at qualifying school at Wigan’s Robin Park. The all-star field included names such as former world number one Peter Manley, 1996 World Matchplay winner Peter Evison, and other former top 16 players Alex Roy and Dennis Ovens.

The right-hander, whose best performance at the UK Open was reaching the last 16 in 2013, has won seven tournaments in his career – most recently the Denmark Open and Kennermerland Open in 2011.

Currently world number 66, West is sponsored by Epic Darts and Trophies and Thirteen Tattoo Shop in Waltham Abbey.