You cannot be serious! Tennis courts in the Memorial Park were used just SIX times in June, according to council figures.

Tight-fisted officials brought in charges to use the courts last summer in a bid to claw back £30,000 spent on resurfacing work.

But players have stayed away, despite the good weather and the arrival of the Wimbledon tennis fortnight.

Now campaigners say it is time for the council to review the policy and make the courts free again.

Former councillor Vince McMahan said: “It’s very disappointing. Before the charge was brought in you would see youngsters in there from the early morning until the early evening. Each court was full.

“I just feel it’s a facility that has been taken away from the youth. It gave them a sense of purpose and kept them off the streets.

“It was good that they were doing sports and keeping fit. It was the wrong decision by the council to bring in the charge.”

Mr McMahan says matters were made worse by the complicated payment and booking system, which leaves youngsters needing to book two days in advance or pay in cash in Canterbury.

He added: “With the summer holidays on the way it could be a wonderful facility for the children.

“The council might say they were not used before, but they certainly were. During the summer every court would be in use and there would be kids queueing to get on.

“It’s just nonsense, it needs to be reviewed to let them be free to use again.

“It’s pointless having the courts with all the money spent on them and then not being used.”

Town centre councillor Andrew Cook says the policy of charging will not be reviewed, but says the council needs to find a local business to become a concessionaire at the courts. He said: “We need to work harder at it to make it work.

“We need to get a shift on to make sure it is managed properly, otherwise we could get people on the courts with things like footballs causing damage.

“The way we are going about it at the moment is wrong. It’s not necessarily about the fact we are charging, but whatever we are doing, we are not doing it right, so people are put off from using them.

“The problem at the moment is that the management of the court is at arm’s length. It needs to be done by a local operator.”

Council spokesman Rob Davies says the fees to hire the courts are the same price as in Whitstable, where the courts are much busier.

He added there will be a free tennis fun day for children and adults on August 30, which will include coaching, tournaments and prizes, to coincide with the Giant Picnic in the Memorial Park during Herne Bay Festival.