A VILLAGE tennis club which has gone from strength to strength in the past two months is to re-open after undergoing a major upgrade.

Great Ayton Tennis Club, situated in the North Yorkshire village near Cleveland, has seen its membership grow by more than 50 per cent in the past two years.

Following a concerted effort by the club to attract all ages and abilities to the facility, it now has nearly 200 members.

Over the winter, three of the club’s five match courts were also resurfaced with a high-performance, cushioned surface.

The club, situated near the Buck Hotel in the village, will now be reopened for the season on Friday by Richmond MP Rishi Sunak.

Members and visitors will be able to try out the new surfaces from Bank Holiday weekend and more than fifty children from Marwood School in the village will also attend the season opening.

Club trustee and chairman, Dr Tim Ryan said: “This club is going from strength to strength and there’s no doubt that it’s a real community asset for the village.

"Our development plan for the future is to have floodlit courts and we are looking into the possibility in the future of having all-weather cover for two of our five courts.

“This would mean that players could still play if it was raining as well as offering multi-use. Both juniors and seniors could play netball, table tennis and other racquet sports at the club.

“We would also like to reinstate our practice wall, which is a great way to give juniors some extra practice.

“The surfaces of the courts needed upgrading and the new surfaces have much more give in them making it easier for everyone.

“It’s a perfect spot – near the river Leven, with a view of Roseberry Topping,” he said.

The club provides tennis coaching for juniors as young as five and its membership includes men’s, women’s, mixed, veterans and junior teams as well as supporting two club evenings and one club morning every week. The men’s A team has recently been promoted to the Yorkshire League, junior coaching is thriving and a cardio fitness session is held every Saturday morning.

The club, which celebrates its 80th anniversary next year, now has membership spanning three generations involving in playing competitive tennis; grandparents, parents and grandchildren.

The new water-permeable, non-slip cushioned surface is designed to benefit all ages of tennis players.

“The new cushioned surface helps members who are starting younger, men and women who are playing harder and our third agers who are playing longer,” said Tim Ryan.

Great Ayton Tennis Club, which is also open to visiting tourists to hire during the day, holds summer season social events including open days, tournaments for seniors, families and juniors, quiz nights, barbecues, soup lunches and strawberry teas.

An open day is being held the Saturday after the official opening including cardio tennis, Rusty Racquets and junior matches.

For further information visit; greataytontennisclub.co.uk