Clubmark has been credited with helping to drive an increase in people taking up tennis, via membership of the sport's registered places to play.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has recently announced that membership at these venues has grown by over 60,000 people. It says there are now 576,608 tennis members at clubs and other places to play.

That figure is up from 516,324 in the previous year and represents a 12 per cent increase.

An article on lta.org.uk explains how the greatest percentage growth has come at the 931 Clubmark accredited tennis clubs, with membership at these increasing by 12.5 per cent compared to average growth of 8.5 per cent at non Clubmark accredited clubs.

LTA Development Director, Tom Harlow, told the LTA's official website: "It's very encouraging to see such growth across our 2,700 registered clubs and places to play.

"We still have plenty to do to encourage more adults to play tennis, and we're working with our partners at the Tennis Foundation and Sport England in order to achieve this, but this is an encouraging sign that in a key part of our sport, we are seeing an increase in the number of people who want to play tennis regularly."

The LTA have also revealed that Adult membership has grown by 23,000, and junior and mini tennis membership has grown by 37,000.

They say another reason for the rise has been an increase in the number of registered places to play, up from 2,464 in 2010 to 2,684 in 2012.

To find a Clubmark accredited tennis club check the Clubmark database which can be found in the Resources section of this site.