Salford City Council tennis courts set for £660k upgrade

Players will also receive free rackets

More than £660,000 is to be spent renovating eight public tennis courts in Salford.

The park tennis venues will get a makeover to ensure "quality facilities" are available for the local community.

It follows the announcement of a partnership between the city council and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) with a total investment of £662,743.

The project is a UK government and LTA Tennis Foundation partnership to refurbish public courts.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said in addition to an investment of £456,091.64 from the UK government and LTA Tennis Foundation, £206,652 will also be invested by Salford City Council.

Alongside the investment, Salford Community Leisure and We Do Tennis, which will be delivering coaching in the parks, will also work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the sites.

This will include weekly organised free park tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience.

Equipment will be provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with or have their own racket.

Albert Park is one of eight park in Salford to benefit from the scheme

The park venues being renovated are: Albert Park, Boothsbank Park, Buile Hill Park, Eccles Recreation Ground, Lightoaks Park, Parr Fold Park, Princes Park and Victoria Park.

Work on site is anticipated to be completed by May.

Councillor Barbara Bentham said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for us to promote tennis in our communities, particularly amongst those who wouldn't usually play."

Nationally the funding will see thousands of existing park tennis courts in poor or unplayable condition brought back to life for the benefit of communities across the country through renovation works, and improved court accessibility with new gate-access technology and booking systems.

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