A POPULAR tennis club near Eastleigh has been beaten by the vandals and will have to close.

It comes two months after the Daily Echo revealed that it would take a miracle for the under siege Bishopstoke Tennis Club - launched in the Wimbledon glory years of home grown tennis ace Chris Wilkinson - to survive following relentless attacks by vandals.

Now Chris's dad, Reg Wilkinson has announced that as from the end of September they will no longer be running the tennis club at Bishopstoke Road.

Mr Wilkinson, who leases the Bishopstoke tennis courts from Eastleigh Council, said the coaching and club programme would be switched to Fair Oak's Wyvern Community School where a new club has been launched.

In a letter to members, Mr Wilkinson says: "With excellent new courts and quality floodlights we anticipate trouble free tennis."

Since the early 90s the Bishopstoke Club has produced many county, national and international players.

It was the training base of former British number one and Wimbledon star Chris Wilkinson. The club's closure is a major blow to about 200 tennis enthusiasts who practice weekly at the Bishopstoke tennis courts.

Student Adam Hallwood, 17 who lives at Boyatt Wood, Eastleigh, has played tennis at Bishopstoke for about two years and has taken part in tournaments.

Pointing out that the Wilkinson family had put a lot of effort into developing the facility, Adam said: "It is shame that the vandals have won and we have got to move."

But club chiefs have been fighting a losing battle against the mindless wreckers and Mr Wilkinson senior says: "There is no longer the incentive to keep it open."

Since early April the tennis club had come under attack 29 times in 33 days. Building materials had been used to smash shutters, windows and floodlights and patio furniture was torched. The sickening catalogue of vandalism includes raiders breaking through the club house roof and stealing all of the club's rackets and balls used for its junior development programme.

Last May in an interview with the Daily Echo and after the latest wave of vandalism Mr Wilkinson said it would be a miracle to keep the club going. He said: "We reckon that if things go on like this in a couple of days we won't have a clubhouse left."

Now the plug is being pulled before the winter season gets underway and Mr Wikinson said: "We could have invested £10,000 in new floodlighting but that would have given the vandals another target and would have been money down the drain."

An Eastleigh Council spokesman said: "We are disappointed that after many years of working in partnership with Reg Wilkinson he has decided to close the Bishopstoke Tennis Club.

"The council is committed to improving tennis facilities for local people and has recently invested £50,000 in two new tennis courts. There will also be the provision of a tennis shop in the forthcoming new pavilion. The council will need to consider its options for the provision of tennis development for local people in the future."