PRESSURE is mounting to save the tennis courts at an Upper Norwood park.
A meeting was held last week between council parks staff and Labour councillor Pat Ryan to discuss the future of the courts, located in the park off Biggin Hill.
Cllr Ryan said this week there were indications from the council that options for carrying out repairs to the three tennis courts would be looked at. Since the meeting, he added, work had started on clearing overgrowth around the courts, another cause of concern for people using the park.
Cllr Ryan said: "There is a lot of water leaking onto the surfaces, which is affecting them.
"We want to see them repaired and repainted. The courts are still very well used by people in the area but they are getting into a very bad state."
Cllr Ryan was joined at the meeting by tennis coach Martin McGilloway, who lives close to the courts.
He said: "If something isn't done soon to repair the courts, the situation could become irretrievable."
He said it would be possible to clean up the surfaces and paint them with an acrylic-based protective coating, which would preserve them for another five years.
Mr McGilloway added: "The council did a good job repainting the surfaces in 1997 but they have never been properly managed since."
A spokesman for Croydon Council confirmed that action had been taken to clean up the area around the courts and that it was intended that the lines on the courts would be repainted.
