Judy Murray has denied her profile is being "used" by developers more interested in building a luxury housing scheme than a new sports centre.

The tennis coach insisted the planned "world-class" golf and tennis centre near Dunblane would create a "bricks and mortar" legacy for her Grand Slam-winning sons Andy and Jamie.

The 56-year-old told a public inquiry into the plans for a £70m facility at Park of Keir that it would help train "an army" of coaches to teach a new generation of stars.

She said some existing tennis courts in the area were "like playing on a beach".

Murray said: "For me, being a Dunblane person, when this site was mentioned and I went to have a look at it, it ticked all the boxes.

"It was right beside a busy main road and a roundabout and a perfect location for something that would deliver tennis on a big scale."

She admitted she had been "approached" by developer Duncan King, who owned the site and already had planning permission for a hotel and golf course.

The inquiry was told she had realised a tennis centre on its own would not "stack up" financially, so it needed to be surrounded by and working with other sports and had to be built debt free, financed by housing.

Murray said: "Because I am so passionate about growing tennis and make it available to everyone of any age and means it has to be accessible and affordable.

"I didn't want to build a commercial centre. If these facilities aren't built debt-free, they'll have a millstone round their neck before they start."

In answer to questioning by Maurice O'Carroll, advocate for community group Residents Against Green Belt Erosion, Murray admitted there was "no formal partnership" between herself, golfer Colin Montgomerie and the developers.

She said the inclusion of 19 luxury houses in the plan was "at the behest of Mr King".

Montgomerie was involved in the project in its early days but has since stepped aside.

Mr O'Carroll said: "You have a very high profile, as does Mr Montgomerie, and quite correctly so.

"What we then have is an exchange, whereby your profile and that of Mr Montgomerie, to a certain extent, is put forward for a facility which will also enable Mr King to develop houses."

Murray disagreed, saying: "It wasn't set out as a housing project. Putting some housing on the site was something we looked at after we had done all the calculations of how much funding would be required to make this thing accessible and affordable to everybody."

She later told the inquiry tennis in the country was "in big trouble" with many towns no longer having any public courts, and just 3500 players registered in the central Scotland area.

"We need many more indoor and outdoor public facilities across Scotland," she said.

"The fact that they have not been built in the nine years that Andy has been in the top almost-five in the world would indicate that the governing bodies and the local authorities are not investing in tennis.

"With Park of Keir I can deliver locally and then deliver a workforce that will put tennis in Scotland in a great place for the future."

The proposed development, which would also include a four-star 150 bedroom hotel with gym and spa, a visitor centre, a Murray tennis museum, a country park, and 19 luxury houses, is estimated to create and sustain 152 additional jobs for the local area, equal to an annual injection of £4.7m.

Opponents argue Park of Keir is a valuable green melt site which provides a natural "break" between the two towns of Dunblane and Bridge of Allan.

The inquiry, headed by a reporter from the Scottish Government's planning and environmental appeals division, is expected to last another week and a half.

It follows rejection of the proposals by Stirling Council, the local planning authority for Dunblane, last year.