YORK Family Tennis Tournament, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, has had to be switched to the University of York in Heslington as the recently resurfaced Rowntree Park courts are currently out of action.

The main bloc of four courts have no surround netting and no markings on the tarmacadam surface.

While the late help of the University has been welcomed by tournament officials, chairman Stuart Langley is far from happy about the lack of action by the City of York Council.

"I understand the courts were relaid in February but since then nothing has happened. What really disappoints me is that nobody from the council has thought it necessary to get in touch with us to say there was a problem.

"We could have turned up in Rowntree Park to find the courts were not available, if we had not paid a visit to the park and seen the problem," said Langley.

"The tournament was not held last year because of prolonged rain over the weekend and we cannot afford to see a second year lost as Nestl, our sponsors, have been very supportive in putting finance into our local tennis scene.

"In the circumstances I couldn't afford to take risks and so made the decision to switch the event to another venue. We would hope to be back in Rowntree Park next year because we believe it is an ideal venue for the tournament," added Langley.

Updated: 09:27 Tuesday, April 25, 2006