Coronation Street star, 99, vows she’ll CHAIN herself to Wimbledon over £200m expansion plan & says ‘let them arrest me’

2 months ago 17

A FORMER Coronation Street star has vowed to chain herself to the All England Club if the controversial Wimbledon expansion plans go ahead.

Thelma Ruby, 99, has lived in an idyllic penthouse flat on Wimbledon Hill Road opposite the tennis complex for three decades.

an elderly woman stands in front of a large window overlooking a park

Thelma Ruby’s view from her penthouse flat in Wimbledon[/caption]

a woman sits on a bench while a man reads a book

an aerial view of a park with a red line going through it

However, the All England Club intends to build 39 new grass courts on land across Church Road which used to be home to Wimbledon Park Golf Club.

The actress led the opposition against the club’s expansion by claiming her life would be “ruined” by the building work.

Now she has promised to “chain myself to the grounds” at a protest meeting in nearby Southfields.

Ruby said: “Let them arrest me. I live in a flat overlooking this magnificent landscape, which was designed by Capability Brown.

“The club talk about planting new trees, but can you imagine how long it would take for newly planted trees to give the benefits that we now get from mature trees?

“I look several times a day out of the window and it gives me strength to carry on. It gives me inspiration.”

Jules Pipe, the deputy London mayor, is set to rule on the whopping £200million expansion project on Friday.

The 73-acre golf club accepted the tennis club’s £65million offer to terminate their lease.

That saw members, including Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, each given £85,000 in compensation.

Ruby, who appeared in Coronation Street in 1996 as Phyllis Pearce’s friend Lily Dempsey, is distraught.

She moved in following the death of her husband Peter Frye but fears her moments of watching the parakeets in the park will soon be nothing more than a memory.

World War Two evacuee Ruby previously told SunSport: “I am so upset because my life is going to be ruined.

“I’m an old lady, although I’m still an active actress and in good health so may live a little more which means I’m going to suffer all the more.

“I don’t know how they can sleep at night because it’s such a wicked scheme.

“I can’t say enough about how heartbroken I am.”

Deborah Jevans, Chair of the All England Club, commented: “We are pleased that the GLA’s planning officers have recommended that our transformation of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course should be approved by Deputy Mayor Jules Pipe.

“We believe that these plans will deliver one of the greatest sporting transformations for London since 2012.

“The land that we propose to enhance has been used as a private members’ golf course for well over 100 years and, as a core part of this project, we will create 27 acres of beautiful new parkland, free for the public to access and enjoy.

“We now look forward to the Greater London Authority’s decision at a public hearing on 27 September.”