BOLTON'S world darts champion Lisa Ashton believes women will never be allowed to play in the top men's competitions because the men are scared of losing to them.

Ashton, who won her third world darts title in the last four years a fortnight ago, has no doubt the top women are every bit as good as their male counterparts.

For that reason she thinks it is wrong there is a massive disparity in prize money for the two sexes.

“It won’t happen as the men don’t want to get shown up," said the mother-of-two from Johnson Fold who is nicknamed the Lancashire Rose on the darts circuit.

“The standard is just as good as the men’s. It’s not about a difference in class because there isn’t really one. The main difference is pay.”

The pay-gap debate is an argument which is prominent across all sports and exists in darts where the winner of the men’s championship gets £300,000 compared to the ladies' prize pool of £29,000.

Bolton’s BDO champion, aged 46, has ambitions to dominate the ladies' game after storming to her third world title and has her sights on chasing down the 10 titles her rival Trina Gulliver has won.

She said: “I’m hoping to get as many as I can. The aim for me it to get as close to her as possible.”

As well as being a professional darts player, Ashton is now a grandmother to one-year-old Amelia, whom she helps take care of during the week.

This new role means darts practice has to be fit in wherever possible, usually at home in the evening.

Luckily for Ashton, those practice sessions have her coming up against her daughter, Danielle, who is making a name for herself in the sport.

And they can be quite competitive.

Danielle, aged 18, is following in her mother’s footsteps, and the two have already played each other a number of times on the ladies' circuit.

The youngster has never beaten her mother, but Lisa feels it is only a matter of time before she does; a thought that sits comfortably with the three times champion.

“Right now she’s 38th in the world so if she keeps going at this rate she will be beat me.

“I don’t want to lose but it’ll be nice to see she’s progressing.”