IMPROVEMENTS to the playing surface at Knutsford Tennis Club should be completed next month.

Work started in August to repair subsidence below three of the seven floodlit courts at Mereheath Lane, with a £50,000 grant from Sport England helping to cover the cost.

And George Osborne, MP for Tatton, has visited to check on progress.

"It was very exciting to see him," said Moya Meredith, club secretary.

“He talked to the kids that were on a summer camp, as well as having a look at the excavations and dug-up courts.

“Without the grant we could not have done it – it’s such an expensive piece of work.

“It’s great for him to show an interest.”

Tennis players, who raised a five-figure sum themselves from a 24-hour Tennis-A-Thon, have received assistance too from Cheshire East Council, Knutsford Town Council and Manchester Airport.

But visitors, for the next few weeks at least, can be forgiven for mistaking courts for a building site.

“You wouldn’t recognise them!” added Meredith.

“Work started last month, and we’re expecting it to take six to eight weeks. However that depends on the weather.

“It’s not ideal from a tennis point of view, but the warm spell has helped.

“They’ve just started put in pipes and a replacement drainage system. It’s a step forward, and hopefully we’ll have the courts open again by mid-October."