A frustrated Whitehaven sport club has called for clarity on whether it will lose its facilities.

Whitehaven Squash Club was given notice that its courts in Whitehaven Sports Centre would be removed to make way for an NHS rehabilitation centre back in June 2019.

But since then they have received no update on if their facilities will be removed – although club chairman Ian Lowrey believes that a recent update indicates they will be.

Whitehaven Sports Centre is operated by GLL and Copeland Council.

Derek Jones, GLL's partnerships manager, said: “We are still very much in the middle of reopening centres as part of the Government roadmap.

“Once we have a greater understanding of the implications of reopening our facilities in line with Covid safety protocols, we will have more time to review our provision.

“Due to flooding caused by extensive rain in 2019, prior to the Covid pandemic, the squash courts were very badly damaged.

“They will need significant investment to bring them back to a playable condition.”

Mr Lowrey fears they are still likely to 'get rid of them'.

He believes leisure centre bosses are 'trying to show everybody how much it’s going to cost' to keep the courts and added that the club had been notified that they could be demolished before the outbreak of Covid-19.

Mr Lowrey said that club bosses were simply looking for an answer on whether they will be required to move, and the club is happy to look at setting up in different facilities.

“It would be nice if they were just up front and said even just to confirm they’re going to get rid of the squash courts," he said.

“If they said they were keeping them, we’d try and get something going. It’s just getting that answer.”