Park courts back in action to coincide with Wimbledon tennis fever

Park courts across the town have been refurbished and are now up and running following a £150,000 injection of cash.

The public funding – awarded as part of a national drive to bring neglected courts back into action – has seen improvements made at Stanley Park, Cavendish Road, Claremont Community and Anchorsholme Park.

Stanley Park courts can be hired for £5 an hour (or free with a £60 season ticket), while courts at the other parks will be free to use.

Equipment hire is also available at Stanley Park, and an online booking system has been introduced.

Three of the facilities are now open for play with Anchorsholme Park set to re-open in the following weeks.

Coun Jane Hugo, Blackpool Council cabinet member with responsibility for parks said: “I’m delighted this project is now complete and that tennis lovers can play again and enjoy much improved facilities.

“Park tennis courts are particularly important in providing affordable andaccessible opportunities. ”

Blackpool North and Cleveleys MP Paul Maynard also welcomed the investment.

He said: “Funding for grassroots sports is essential to get people active as part of our priority to cut NHS waiting lists.

“I know how important these facilities are for local people and the tennis players who use them.”

Improvements of the tennis courts include new surfaces, nets, posts, line markings and recolouring.

Four of Stanley Park’s hard standing courts have been completely refurbished and LTA Clubspark booking technology has been introduced to make it easier for people to book courts. It is also proposed to launch coaching sessions in the future.

Through its Park Investment Delivery programme the Lawn Tennis Association, along with the government, are jointly investing more than£30m to refurbish tennis courts across Britain.

People wanting to book slots on the Blackpool courts can do so in three ways.

Either by navigating through the LTA website to the Blackpool bookings area, or by accessing the Blackpool ClubSpark page clubspark.lta.org.uk/BlackpoolParksTennis.

Players can also book onto courts whilst in the parks by scanning the QR code on the gate and following the instructions when prompted.