A HAMPSHIRE village has been awarded a grant of more than £35,000 to improve its tennis courts.

North Baddesley Parish Council and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have announced a partnership to refurbish the courts at the Recreation Ground.

Two courts will be renovated with an investment of £36,500.

The project is part of a nationwide investment by the government and LTA Tennis Foundation to refurbish public tennis courts across the country, and open up the sport to more people. 

The investment will see thousands of existing park tennis courts in poor or unplayable condition brought back to life with new gate-access technology and booking systems.

North Baddesley Parish Council will also work with the LTA to deliver a range of activities on the tennis courts. 

READ MORE: East Hampshire planning breach: Horse owner fined more than £12,000

This will include weekly free park tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience where equipment is provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with or their own racket. Local Tennis Leagues will also provide friendly, sociable, opportunities to get active through local competition. 

Cllr David Knight, chairman of North Baddesley Parish Council, said: “We are looking forward to working with the LTA to make our tennis courts’ facilities up to a very high standard. We want to see our courts being used by all ages and abilities.”

Julie Porter, chief operating officer at the LTA, said: “We are delighted to be working with North Baddesley Parish Council to improve their park tennis facilities and provide more opportunities for anyone to pick up a racket and get active. This investment is part of the UK Government and LTA’s Parks Tennis Project, and will mean that courts will be available for people to use for years to come. We will also be working closely with North Baddesley Parish Council to ensure that the local community have a range of accessible opportunities to get on court, and open up our sport to many more people.”

The courts will have online booking found via the LTA website: lta.org.uk/play.