Tennis club members are serving with a smile after a funding boost for their bid to build three clay courts.

The Pavilion and Avenue Tennis Club in The Droveway, Hove, has been awarded £44,617 towards their £128,000 project to develop the club’s tennis facilities.

Sport England’s funding, awarded as part of the Olympic and Paralympic legacy programme, will go towards plans to install three new clay courts, repairing floodlighting and install additional floodlighting to its site.

The club already has a total of ten courts with acrylic, Tarmac and artificial grass surfaces and has two covered courts in winter months.

It is one of only three LTA Performance Tennis Centres in the country.

Head coach and former British No1 tennis player Julie Hobbs said the clay courts will benefit players young and old by being “easy on the joints” and conducive to longer rallies.

She added: “I am so delighted that the club has been given this award.

“This means a huge amount to all users of the tennis club.

“Some of our junior players may go on to represent Great Britain abroad and experience of clay court movement is essential.”