A DECISION to close a popular fitness centre in Wrexham at the end of the month has been met with anger.
Fitness First says it is shutting its branch in Holt Road, which employs 15 people, due to changes to its UK portfolio.
At this stage it says it will redeploy staff wherever it can.
Official word of the closure came in a letter from the company to the centre’s local members on Saturday.
It said the move was part of an ongoing restructuring programme and explained people could transfer their membership to other Fitness First branches.
However, the nearest are in Runcorn, Crewe and Telford, all of which are more than 20 miles away.
One member, who did not wish to be named. said: “My husband and I have both had memberships at Fitness First for the past year. I go six times a week and do all the classes and my husband uses it five times a week.
“We were really angry to find out it is closing. It’s really good value because we pay £16.25 each a month for membership and the cheapest clubs we can find locally are charging more than £30 a month.
“The government is always going on about people staying healthy but we can’t afford to pay that.
“Fitness First says we can transfer to its other branches but these are all miles away.”
She added: “Wrexham seems to be going downhill – we have a big empty Woolworths and other stores empty – and this is just part of it.”
A spokesman for Fitness First said: “We have made some changes to the UK portfolio which includes closing a small number of clubs.
“We are extremely grateful to the teams in these clubs, and we will look to redeploy people wherever we can, and encourage members to move to clubs nearby when we have them.”