A £1.7 million state-of-the-art tennis centre is to be built in Telford, it has been revealed.

The centre, based at the Hadley Learning Community, will have four indoor courts and four all-weather floodlit courts outside.

Telford & Wrekin Council leisure boss Councillor Miles Hosken said it is hoped the centre, which will be used by pupils and the wider community, will be open by next summer.

He added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to create a wonderful new community facility in the heart of the borough that can also be used by pupils at the Hadley Learning Community.

“It very much fits with the council’s strategy to focus individual sports at specific learning community sites, providing sustainable new facilities at each newly-built seat of learning.”

The project will come to fruition in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association, Hadley Learning Community and Interserve.

The nearest tennis facility for Telford residents at the moment is more than an hour’s drive away in Tipton, Sandwell.

The ambitious plans are part of a council blueprint to create centres of excellence for specific sports at different sites across the borough.

They are a replacement for the original Telford Sports Learning Enterprise and Community (TSLEC) project which would have centred around Wellington and AFC Telford’s Bucks Head stadium.

It would have brought nearly £11 million worth of funding into Wellington through the creation of a 1,500 seater sports arena for netball and basketball and a new access road. But council chiefs scrapped the scheme due to a cash shortfall.

By Wayne Beese