THE courts are packed with kids and the shelves empty of strawberries and cream. It can only mean one thing: Wimbledon is upon us.

And the Cotswolds is no different where tennis clubs have seen a marked increase in tennis-hungry children picking up their racquets, putting on their brightest whites and heading to the courts.

In Cirencester’s Market Place on Friday, kids and adults alike were invited to have a go at a game of mini tennis under a gazebo.

The event, organised by academy Tennis Plus hoped to garner interest in a series of summer camps they are running in collaboration with Cirencester Town Council.

But people have already been flocking to the courts, particularly at St Michael’s Park in Cirencester where more than 100 people have already signed up for a new electronic key fob scheme.

The scheme costs £30 per household per year and allows unlimited tennis.

Children were down there on Saturday, getting expert tuition from coach Charlie Ferrett.

Ioan Evans, director of Tennis Plus said: “We’ve definitely got more interest with Wimbledon going on, and the further Murray gets the more people are interested.”

On August 30 the academy will be hosting their second Cotswold Masters which has a mouth-watering £500 prize.

The masters is a touch tennis tournament, a popular new form of the sport which uses smaller racquets and courts a quarter of the normal size for an exciting, fast paced game.

To find out more visit tennis-plus.co.uk.