Wimbledon faces £1m refund

Wimbledon organisers today faced a potential record pay-out of at least £1million to spectators as persistent rain threatened to upset all the day's play.

Officials have to refund the full price of tickets to fans if there is less than one hour's play because of rain on the court they are due to watch.

With weather forecasts predicting a day of showers at the All England Club, there is a good chance that officials will be refunding all the money.

Tickets for a seat on the 13,810-capacity Centre Court cost £39 while a seat on Court One costs £36. Organisers will have to refund half of that amount if there is between one hour and two hours' play.

Officials were forced to postpone the scheduled noon start by one hour because there was no chance of early play.

But tournament chiefs said there were no plans yet to reschedule play for the middle Sunday which is traditionally a rest day.