Melbourne darts riot: Michael van Gerwen & Simon Whitlock halted

Onlookers reportedly said the chaos started when groups in the crowd began throwing chairs

Play was stopped at an Australian darts competition when rioting fans in fancy dress brawled and threw chairs.

Dutchman Michael 'Mighty Mike' van Gerwen was playing Australia's Simon 'The Wizard' Whitlock in an invitational tournament at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne when chaos broke out.

The pair - among the top-ranked players on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit - were halted when a boisterous crowd took to throwing chairs, tossing tables and grappling in groups.

Images show a man dressed as Batman's sidekick Robin wrestling with an English knight, while security guards try to calm the situation down.

Other pictures show men in Hawaiian shirts and also a gang of Oompa Loompas throwing furniture.

Police later arrived on the scene but not before the entire seating area had been wrecked by the marauding crowd.

Michael van Gerwen eventually beat Simon Whitlock 9-8 but crowd disturbances prompted a delay in the conclusion of the match

Chairs were thrown by those in the arena, which is located on Melbourne's Docklands and holds around 56,000 spectators when full

Some spectators filmed the chaos on their phones

Detailed fancy dress outfits did not prevent fans from engaging in what looked like playful brawls

Robin and an Oompa Loompa attend to an injured crowd member

Police intervened to settle the chaos after stewards were unable to calm the crowd