Two members of Heaton Tennis and squash Club have this week been elected to the 18-strong main board of the Lawn Tennis Association.

Peter Bretherton is chairman of the National Tennis Development Division, and John Ramsbottom is one of two members elected by the LTA's Council.

Ramsbottom, who is also secretary of the Yorkshire LTA, will serve a two-year term, while Bretherton, chairman of Lancashire LTA, can look forward to a three-year stint, annual election permitting.

Bretherton, 55 and one of the North's leading veteran players, said: "One of the main tasks of my division for next year is to oversee the implementation of Club Vision (the LTA's huge plan to revive clubs and encourage juniors within them).

"It is very exciting, and it is a scheme that has to work, and we are determined to make it work."

Ramsbottom, 59, who recently retired as chairman and managing director of Ilkley-based RBR Insurance Brokers, said the election of Bretherton and himself was "a tribute to Heaton Tennis Club and the work there of club manager Mike Brown".

He added: "Peter and myself learnt a lot running the junior and senior tournaments there."

Bretherton, director of corporate affairs at Bradford-based Provident Financial, added: "Heaton has, over the years, always been a forward-thinking club in terms of its facilities and the tennis programmes it runs there."