VOLUNTEERS at a bowling and tennis club have taken their case to Holyrood after being stung by a 50 per cent rates hike.

John Evans, one of the volunteers at the Ardgowan Club in Greenock, is leading the protest and the call for a meeting with Environment and Land Reform Minister Roseanna Cunningham over a series of financial concerns facing the 175-year-old facility.

He said for tennis and bowling clubs the rates revaluation could be "the straw that breaks the camel’s back".

He said: "We are in the situation where we don't have social members, we get a very limited income from the bar but it is a full licence and that affects water charges.

"The rateable value also impacts on water charges so the whole thing is rolled up together.

"We've got enough problems and we've been trying to boost our membership.

"Our rent rose by 50 per cent last year."

He said revaluation's influence "spreads a much wider net than commerce and trade".

"Imagine how revaluation will affect bowling and tennis clubs.

"The club of which I am a member has two bowling greens and four tennis courts and is classed as non-domestic for payment of council tax.

"It falls in to that category for revaluation of property.

"Draft figures available propose the rateable value to increase from £17,750 to £26,500, an increase of approximately 50 per cent.

"This is for a sports facility run by volunteers.

"That new valuation is way above the £15,000 cap for exemption from council tax."

He added: "While there is substantial relief for Community Amateur Sports Clubs of which my club is one, we are still at the mercy of the District Assessor and Council for the final bill to be paid.

"Add the effect of water charges introduced by Scottish Government legislation in 2015 and now due to be implemented in full next April one can see bowling and tennis clubs also going to the wall. "

He said: "We are supposed to be active and sporty, and we are being crucified for trying.

"Jamie Green (Conservative MSP) has worked to get a potential meeting with Roseanna Cunningham or her officials."