WITNEY town councillors have voted “in principle” to finally resurface the four tennis courts at West Witney Sports Ground.

At a full council meeting on Monday night, members agreed to bring the tennis courts up to scratch, which will cost £23,000.

But they said the decision was made on the basis that Witney Lawn Tennis paid its outstanding rent of £9,000. The club first complained about the poor condition of the courts in 2007.

The council agreed to spend £28,000 on resurfacing work in March last year but so far nothing has happened. The club said it would not pay any rent until the work was carried out. At the meeting, councillor Roger Curry accused the club of “blackmail”.

Mayor Peter Dorward said: “The tennis courts do belong to the people of Witney and to deny them tennis courts will deny people the chance to play. If we keep it in the state it is now, it will get worse and the costs will only increase.”

The decision will be reviewed by the next leisure and recreation committee next month.

The council also decided to dissolve its West Witney Working Party and replace it with a new group to look at improvements to all sports facilities, recommended in a report from consultants Sports Solutions GB, and produce an action plan for consultation.

At the outset of the meeting, tennis club chairman Chris Pyne said: “This is a long standing issue and over the last month the problems are still there and we have had two of our active members who are threatening to leave unless something is done.”