Pembrokeshire has won a major tennis award. The county has won the 'Local Authority of the Year ' category in this year's Lawn Tennis Association awards. Pembrokeshire was singled out for its work in developing the sport in the county. Clr. Rob Lewis, cabinet member for sport and leisure, said it was a tremendous accolade for the county. "We have spent a lot of time and effort developing tennis in Pembrokeshire," he said. "We have secured significant funding for the upgrading of courts on schools sites as well as developed the dome at Haverfordwest. "But although the infrastructure is important, congratulations are also due to the Sport Pembrokeshire tennis coaches and all the tennis club volunteers who work so hard promoting their sport throughout the county. "We are delighted to see that all their hard work and effort has been recognised." He added that a special thanks was also due to Chevron, which had sponsored Sport Pembrokeshire's tennis development programme for many years. John Deason, Sport Pembrokeshire manager, said while it was always pleasing to receive recognition, there was still much to do. "They key to tennis development is to develop socially inclusive clubs and junior coaching programmes on school sites and in the community," he said. "Our job is to drive up participation levels, which in the long run is the way to produce future champions." Commenting on the council's achievement, the LTA said the authority had recognised the demand for tennis, particularly among young people, and had greatly improved facilities across the area. "As a rural county, they have had few qualified coaches in the area so appointed a tennis development manager to support existing clubs and improve the coaching structure by training coaches inside the county," the LTA said. "They have also developed thriving community programmes in Fishguard, Pembroke and Tenby, strengthened the club at Haverfordwest and set up a new club at the dome. Good links have been developed with schools and there is a strong focus on competition with regular team and individual opportunities in mini and junior tennis."