PERSHORE Tennis Centre won three accolades at the annual Hereford and Worcester County Awards Banquet.

They were given club of the year by Herefordshire and Worcestershire LTA with head coach Steve Bauer taking the trophy for coach of the year for the second time in a row.

Worcestershire County Cricket Club hosted the event with young person of the year going to Pershore's rising star Imogen Looker.

The centre was runner-up for Bauer’s disability programme of the year.

They will now have the opportunity to be recognised at a regional and perhaps national level early next year when they go up against other county winners.

Club chairman Sarah McCormick said: "To be awarded club of the year is an amazing achievement for Pershore Tennis Centre.

"Four years ago with membership numbers dwindling and the outdoor courts reaching the end of their playing life the committee decided to take some bold steps.

"Winning club of the year is a testament to those bold steps. We knew we needed to increase our presence in the local community through social media.

"We knew we needed to offer our members more than just courts to play on and we knew that we needed to raise money to improve our facilities.

"It has taken us four years to achieve these goals but we now have two new outdoor artificial clay courts with a third on the horizon.

"We’ve increased our membership by 54 per cent and our presence in the local community is now stronger than ever.

"The committee, the coaching staff and the members have all worked tirelessly to achieve this with open days, membership drives and coach-led social play.

"We have five ladies' teams, three men’s teams and two mixed teams competing in the H&W County League, the junior programme is the strongest in the county and we offer two disability classes for Down's Syndrome and wheelchair tennis.

"The spirit and generosity at the club is very strong.

"At the end of the day we all want the same thing, a warm and friendly tennis club for our members to enjoy, a safe environment for our juniors to learn their tennis at and a great facility for our coaches to teach tennis at."

Bauer said: “I’m so grateful to be recognised for the second time ­— sincere thanks go to all of the committee and club members for their support.

"Our club has such a wonderful set-up which allows us to provide tennis to everyone.”

Earlier this year Pershore's Bradley Smith won the county’s volunteer of the year and made it into the last three in the country, enjoying a trip to Wimbledon to mark his accomplishments.