THE premier facility for tournaments in southern England is threatened with closure after the president of the sport’s national governing body said that he was forced to sell it for more than £4 million to property developers.

Members of Lambs Club, in London, are campaigning to stop the site being used for housing. They also say that the timing of the sale is unfortunate because squash is shortlisted for inclusion in the 2012 Olympic Games, for which London is bidding.

The last significant event at the nine-court centre is likely to be the early rounds of the Open Championships in October, before the club’s feared closure next February. Two of these championships and a further 50 tournaments at Lambs have been sponsored in the past by Mike Corby, the owner of the club and the president of Squash England.

“I was forced to sell Lambs last October to clear my debts,” Corby, the chairman of Fitness Exchange, a health club group, said yesterday. “I did it for no personal gain, but we needed to be financially secure again.”

Lambs is on a three-year leaseback arrangement while planning permission is sought for a proposed joint redevelopment venture by Buccleuch Estate and Native Land. This comprises 80,000 square feet of flats, but no squash facility.

The plan is opposed by many of the 1,200 members of the club. They have set up a website and want to buy back the premises so that it can continue as a squash and fitness club.

Ken Pottinger, a spokesman for the club members, said: “We do feel that it would have been simpler if Mike had asked us first. We acknowledge that Mike has put a lot of time and money into squash, but (the club) was sold without us knowing what was happening. The developer has now told us that he is not prepared to meet us, although we believe that this is just a negotiating position.

“We do feel that it is odd that the club has been sold just as London is bidding for the Games and squash may come into the Games.”

However, Corby said: “There are misguided attempts to link this with the Olympic bid. It is an absolute red herring. I love the Olympics and love squash, but there is little or no chance that squash will get into the Games for 2012.”

Corby, a vice-president of the World Squash Federation, has spent ten years trying to persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the sport should be admitted to the Games when it votes in Singapore in July. He said that he was desolate at having to sell Lambs, which he founded.

“For 25 years it has been part of my life,” he said. “But there comes a time when you cannot carry on. There are a huge number of financial difficulties in running a squash club here.”

Corby said that you would have to have a monthly membership of about £200 to make squash viable, because most of his members only use the gym. Speaking of club members who are opposing the redevelopment plans, he added: “They are creating problems unnecessarily.”