A sports club has been left fearing for its future after plans to demolish its training base were left up in the air.

Whitehaven Squash Club were training at the town's leisure centre but the centre's owners GLL and Copeland Borough Council revealed plans to replace the squash courts with an NHS rehabilitation centre in June 2019.

Since then the club has had no update on their facilities and club chairman Ian Lowrey said he is frustrated that players do not know if they can continue training at the leisure centre or if they need to find another club.

And he added if the demolition of the squash courts goes ahead it would be a death knell for the club.

He said: “The club would just have to fold. The club’s been using it since it opened with the juniors in 1988.

“I want to know either way. The decision is made but for some reason they won’t tell us anything.”

Mr Lowrey said he was informed the facilities would be converted into a rehabilitation centre for the NHS as part of £2 million in funding set aside for the redevelopment of the leisure centre.

Squash clubs have joined forces recently as the Whitehaven club have been welcomed to the Falcon Complex in Egremont where Windscale Squash Club train and compete.

Mr Lowrey added: “Windscale were extremely helpful, they’ve allowed us to play our home games there.

"For me personally, people should go there if there isn’t any squash in Whitehaven.”

A spokesperson for Better said: “Our priority has been to reopen leisure facilities across Copeland in a phased manner, in order to introduce and refine our new Covid-secure processes, before rolling out further.

“The squash courts at Whitehaven are currently unusable due to the flooding that took place and renovation that would be required to make them serviceable.

“Given the current financial challenges the leisure industry is facing as a result of four months of lost revenue – a particular challenge for not-for-profit trusts such as GLL, this is not something we are currently in a position to action.

“The planned redevelopment of Whitehaven Sports Centre has also stalled due to the Covid crisis, and this includes talks with the NHS about having a presence in the new-look facility.

"Until talks resume, we cannot confirm details nor timescales of the centre redevelopment. However, we are exploring all the options available to us.”