TIM Henman watch out - England's future tennis star could come from South Ribble.

That's the dream of staff at the South Ribble Tennis Centre, who are celebrating a Lottery windfall of £629,000 to help expand the centre.

The money will be used, along with cash from the Lawn Tennis Association and South Ribble Borough Council, to create three new courts, an aerobics studio and a state-of-the-art fitness suite.

The £1.2million project should see the number of people using the centre double from 100,000 a year to 200,000 a year.

Staff at the centre now hope the additional funds will further enhance the centre's top-notch reputation. Mike Bain, the centre manager, said: "The coaches have set their sights on producing players who can bid for international titles and, who knows, maybe even a Wimbledon champion.

"Everyone here is delighted with the Lottery award which will enable the centre to double its current capacity.

"The local community will benefit from the three extra courts because we have never been able to meet demand since we opened."

Since opening its doors in 1994, the centre has placed South Ribble firmly on the tennis player's map. The Lawn Tennis Association, which contributed £500,000 towards the building of the centre in 1994, voted it the 'Indoor Tennis Centre of the Year' during its first year of operation.

Geoff Webb, from the LTA said: "South Ribble has done a tremendous job in promoting tennis. The additional courts can only enhance this very successful tennis centre and create more opportunities to play the sport."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.