[3] Since the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 interpretation of "charity" was to be used, English trusts law was applied.

Lord Keith, giving the sole opinion, applied the Recreational Charities Act 1958, which provides that recreational facilities providing "social welfare" to people from social disadvantages or the general members of the public were appropriate charitable trusts.

The question was whether the "social welfare" element also applied to recreational facilities open to the general public.

It suffices if they are provided with the object of improving the conditions of life for members of the community generally...if it suffices that the facilities are to be available to the members of the public at large...it must necessarily be inferred that the persons for whom the facilities are primarily intended are not to be confined to those who have need of them by reason of...social deprivation.

[5][6] The impact of this case was to confirm that the courts accepted the validity of recreational charitable trusts open to the public.