Jobs fear as Telford's Fitness First gym to close

Telford's Fitness First gym is to close at the end of June putting the jobs of up to 20 workers in jeopardy, it was revealed today.

The gym in Foster House, Stafford Park 1, is one of 10 in the UK to go as part of a reorganisation of the company.

It is believed there are between 15 to 20 staff at the gym which has about 2,500 members.

A worker, who did not want to be named, said: "We were called into a meeting yesterday morning and told by management.

"It was terrible. It's disheartening and upsetting and a lot of staff were crying. We feel let down."

It is not yet clear if any staff will be moved to the firm's gyms in Cannock or Wolverhampton.

Fitness First currently operates more than 160 gyms in the UK and in excess of 540 worldwide.

Company spokesman Stephen Malthouse 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."

Fitness First started life as a single health and fitness club in Bournemouth in 1993. It now has more than 1.4 million members.