THE council looks set to introduce hourly fees at its tennis courts as part of a huge investment to improve facilities across the city.

Following a successful bid to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) - which has agreed to put up £215,000 in grants and loans - the city council is now moving forward with fixing up tennis courts in Cripplegate Park and Gheluvelt Park but would have to start charging to recuperate some of the money.

The council is looking to charge a £7 hourly rate to the city's tennis lovers to use the new and improved courts.

The fees already approved by the council's policy and resources committee also include a £5 hourly rate for children and various concessionary rates.

If the plan is approved, the courts would be free from 4pm to 8pm on weekdays and between 10am and 5pm on weekends.

Around 18 hours of free sessions are likely to be held throughout the year.

To get the LTA grant and loan money, the city council must find an operator which would then set up a 'pay to play' charge to cover the cost of loan repayments and maintenance costs.

In line with requirements set out by the LTA the operator would have to offer concessionary rates and free coaching sessions to encourage the city to take part.

The grant bid by Worcester Tennis Networks - which is made up of local tennis groups and organisations who want to see more tennis played in the city - was accepted by the LTA in December last year.

The money means improvements can be made to courts in the two city parks as well as facilities at Worcester Sixth Form College and RGS.

Money for the tennis court improvements would also come from £50,000 county council highway money put aside as part of the New Road flood alleviation work and £50,000 of the city council's own money.

The money would also pay for a central booking system which would allow tennis players to book courts across the city from one place and give the council a chance to measure how many people are using the courts.

Confirmation of whether Cripplegate Park could have floodlit courts would have to wait until a new bat survey has been carried out in May. A survey was carried out last autumn which found bat roosts may be affected by light spill from the proposed floodlights.

The council's communities committee meets on Tuesday (March 12) to make a decision.