Late night tennis could return to Wimbledon this summer, with the All England Club tournament organisers refusing to name a cut-off time for evening matches.

Last year saw the unveiling of a new retractable roof over Centre Court, that allowed a match between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka to continue under floodlights until 10.39pm.

The record-breaking late finish sparked residents’ fears night matches would become a fixture of the tournament - and at a press conference this week the All England Club said there was no set time for matches to end.

The club has also revealed there will be 2,500 less tickets available for each day of this year’s tournament, as building work limits the venue’s capacity.

The winners’ prize money would also be raised to £1m for the first time.

All England Club Chief executive Ian Ritchie told Tuesday’s press conference the roof would only be used if rain threatened play.

He said: “It was clearly a huge success last year. We have always seen it as an insurance policy.”

Mr Ritchie said finishing times on Centre Court would be decided on a match-by-match basis, with factors like public transport considered by the tournament officials.

Building work on the Church Road venue’s new number three court means its capacity will fall from 40,000 to 37,500 this year - reducing the number of tickets available in its famous daily queue.

The organisers said the move to raise the mens’ and ladies’ singles tournaments’ prize money by £150,000 each was needed to keep the tournament competitive.

Club chairman Tim Phillips said: “It is important we offer a level of prize money which is both appropriate to the prestige of the event and which gives the players full and fair reward.”