FORMER top-four European professional pool ace Wayne Camm is making his return to the top-level of the game after a six-year absence.

The ex-England star, of Grimsby, is on the table at 8.30pm tonight in the first event of the 2012 UK Pool Tour, at the Barcelo Imperial Hotel in Blackpool.

In 2006, having reached his highest-ever ranking on the now defunct European Pro Tour, the former professional stopped playing due to work and personal commitments.

But having performed well in some recent national competitions – including beating Mosconi Cup hero Chris Melling – Camm believes he has some unfinished business at the pinnacle of the sport.

The construction supervisor said: "I was taking weekends off work to play pool, and when you have a family to provide for and put a roof over their head you can't do it.

"When tobacco sponsorship was lost it killed the sport, and the funding wasn't there.

"I started playing again in a few national competitions and beat world champion Chris Melling who played in the Mosconi Cup. I was beating him despite not really having practiced much because of my job – I still work away.

"I played in a tournament before Christmas that I got to the final of and there was some big games in that.

"The European tour I was part of folded, and I haven't played the UK circuit before. But my ambition is to be in the top-32 ranked players by the end of the year, and then the top-16 next year."

Camm is up against Robert Titchener in Round One in Blackpool tonight over 13 frames. The knock-out eight-ball event is the first of five on the UK Pool Tour, with up to £100,000 on offer throughout the year.

The weekend-long competition, which has attracted 144 players, will also be streamed live on the internet.

Camm, formerly ranked number one in England, has belief he can go a long way in the competition.

"I haven't had much match practice recently but I am not going there just to make the numbers up. I still fancy my chances even though it is my first big event for six years."