MEMBERS of Liphook Tennis Club were devastated after their newly-refurbished hard court area was vandalised.

An entire section of fencing separating the courts was torn from its posts, leaving a gaping hole.

Committee member Katie Land said: “We have just completed a major refurbishment at a cost of £54,000, which includes the coloured hard courts and new lighting. It is heartbreaking to discover such mindless vandalism.

“We believe the culprits were climbing over the fence at the back of the courts and in order to gain access to the courts to play ball games or just hang out, they tore down the fencing.”

The club has three hard courts, all of which are floodlit, plus three grass courts for use in the summer.

There is a clubhouse at the hard courts as well as a mini-clubhouse at the grass courts.

Funding from East Hampshire District Council, Hampshire Playing Fields Association and Bramshott and Liphook Parish Council, plus the club’s own significant contribution, has enabled resurfacing two hard courts and to install new floodlighting for all three hard courts.