Resurfacing work at Herne Hill Velodrome will start on Monday July 18 – leaving just one week of Wednesday night track league racing on the existing track.

The south London velodrome’s future was secured in March this year when British Cycling signed a 15-year tenancy agreement with the Dulwich Estate.

The new 7m-wide track will have a MasterTrack surface which contains fine granite stones and is exceptionally smooth, hard and dense, making it ideal for track racing. It is also impervious to water, so damage from the elements will be eliminated.

The velodrome will also receive a new safety fence and 3m-wide safety run-off area inside the track, which is currently grass.

Built in 1891, the velodrome’s future was thrown into doubt due to a lack of funding, prompting the Save the Herne Hill Velodrome campaign, supported by three-time Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins, to take action in September 2010.

Resurfacing work at the last remaining finals venue from the 1948 Olympic Games is expected to take just over a month, with the new track to open on Saturday September 3.