LEYLAND is serving up one of the country's biggest ever free tennis events this weekend aimed at promoting the sport at a grass roots level.

The event, Play Tennis 2001, gets under way at Leyland's Fox Lane sports club, on Saturday and Sunday.

Tens of thousands of people will be taking part in the promotion held across the country this summer which is being promoted by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). Neil Adams, Play Tennis 2001 organiser for Leyland's Lawn Tennis Association, said: "The event offers great opportunities for the people of Leyland to pick up a tennis racket and have a go."

"I hope the promotion will inspire lots of new players, especially kids, to really take advantage to the sport." The event is designed to benefit from the interest in the sport generated by the likes of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski at both national and local level. The aim is to provide members of the public with a real taste for the game, and the opportunity for follow-on coaching from a professional coach.

Last year, more than 73,000 people took advantage of the opportunity to play tennis for free.

Of those, 60,000 were juniors and 15,000 were complete newcomers to the sport.