An ailing recreation ground is set to be given a revamp to improve a sports court for teenagers and bring back football facilities.

Westmeads in Whitstable currently hosts a dilapidated set of changing rooms and a multi-use games area (MUGA).

It was also previously home to a football pitch, but the goalposts were ripped up some years ago because flooding issues prevented matches being played.

However, improvements are in the pipeline, with Canterbury City Council (CCC) first looking to refurbish the MUGA, which currently consists of an enclosed concrete ground, with two basketball hoops.

It is currently seeking a private sector firm to carry out the work.

A spokesman for CCC explained: "We're looking forward to refurbishing the existing concrete court with a new, higher-quality, user-friendly surface that will be redesigned to allow people to play basketball, street cricket or football, not least because we're adding in some new goals too.

"This is a competitive tender so the value will depend on the bids from prospective contractors.

"We hope to start the work in early June and be finished in early to mid-July so everyone can take advantage of the revamp over the summer holidays and beyond."

Cllr Chris Cornell (Lab) represents the area and is the cabinet member for coastal communities at CCC.

He explained: “We spent some money upgrading half of the play equipment in Westmeads Rec last year and at the time residents were concerned that we put lots of equipment in for younger kids and less for teenagers.”

He says plans are also afoot to sort the flooding issues that put an end to local football matches being hosted at Westmeads.

“The bottom of the field doesn't drain properly,” Cllr Cornell said.

“That was one of the reasons we had for taking away the goalposts a few years ago - we lost about a third of the season because you couldn’t play on it.

“There’s longer term plans for the rest of Westmead Rec which we’re working on with Southern Water – to sort out the drainage issues and return the football field to something people can hire.

“We’ve got some money from the FA so we can refurb the changing rooms and make it into something people can use.”

A contractor has not been appointed to undertake the MUGA works yet, and it is not known what the total value of the project is.