THE chalk dust will hardly have time to settle from the annual tennis tournament before work will begin to transform Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club.

Construction is due to begin on the £1.4 million project within in about a week. It will be carried out by Ilkley firm Quarmby Construction Company which is based in The Grove Promenade.

Managing Director David Jones said: "It is a great privilege to be involved with such a prestigious local development. I am confident that by April 1999 the club will have sports and leisure facilities comparable with the very best."

Other companies involved in the project include Phillip Lees and Associates, Robert West Consulting and the Michael Eyres Partnership.

Funded by the National Lottery, the Lawn Tennis Association, Barclays Bank and club funds, the development constitutes the construction of an extension to the existing indoor tennis courts, a new two-storey clubhouse and the provision of a new fitness centre.

Club chairman Martin Penny said: "After many years of planning I am thrilled that this project is now up and running. Not only is it of great benefit to club members, but to Ilkley as a whole."

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