A POPULAR tennis club has approval to open a new court.

Southbourne Tennis Club, in Iford Lane, has been granted planning permission by Bournemouth council to open an additional floodlit court on a piece of land next door.

The scheme has the backing of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

"The construction of an additional court at the club will allow the club and the local community to play tennis more often and will help to grow the game of tennis locally," said Colin Corline, the association's facility project manager, in a letter to the council.

"The LTA are aware of all the great work that the club do especially in the area of disability tennis where they are one of the leading clubs across the South West region.

"With an additional court, the club are aiming to increase the number of players on their disability programme along with further increases in both club membership and players accessing the coaching programme on offer."

Concerns were raised by the council's tree officer about the loss of a cluster of plants in an area "characterised by a collection of fine, large and mature Weeping Willows alongside Iford Lane". The report states that the loss of trees would be "regrettable".