Joe Perry opens new Chatteris snooker club for home town

Joe Perry said snooker gave him a hobby and a career

A professional snooker player has opened a new club in his Cambridgeshire home town.

Joe Perry, 49, said he wanted to give Chatteris a facility that brought the community together.

Despite offers elsewhere, he opened a snooker and pool club in the former Turkish restaurant Pera Palace.

Perry, who is nicknamed The Gentleman, said the town lacked a place to play and hoped the club could help "produce another Joe Perry".

Joe Perry's Snooker & Pool Palace has opened in his Fenland hometown

Perry was born in Wisbech, but said he "always wanted to do something for Chatteris" as both his and his partner's children grew up there.

He told the BBC: "We always felt that something was lacking for people to do.

"When I was a kid, it [snooker] took me off the streets, it gave me a hobby and a career.

"If we can provide entertainment and the chance for someone who doesn't know if they are any good the opportunity, we could produce another Joe Perry, and that would be amazing."

Joe Perry was born in Wisbech but his children grew up in Chatteris

He added that offers for different locations had been put forward, but as a "Chatteris person" he knew where he wanted to be.

Joe Perry's Snooker & Pool Palace will include Perry's personal match table for members to play on.

He said former world champion Neil Robertson would also attend some practice sessions.

The BBC commentator, who previously ranked number eight, added that he was not ready to retire despite taking time to work on the club, and he hoped to start practising again soon.