A NEW £100,000 gym at Thornbury Leisure Centre has been officially unveiled.

The upgrade, which started in February, includes a suite of state-of-the art new gym equipment, which cost more than £90,000, and a redesign of the layout.

Dave Smele, head of health and fitness at South Gloucestershire Leisure, said: "We are delighted with the results as it is a significant improvement on the old gym – and not just because of the new machines and technology we’ve installed.

"Previously, members were faced with brick walls and lines of equipment, however, now there is a bright open room that is much more visually-attractive. The equipment is also less intimidating to new users and designed to make the most of the outside view."

The previous gym had a mixture of 15-year-old machines together with 13 pieces of cardiovascular equipment that were introduced five years ago. Eight of the five-year-old cardio machines have been retained and combined with the brand new ones.

A crossover machine that has only just been released to the leisure market has also been installed and Thornbury is the first of South Gloucestershire Leisure’s gyms to have it. It is also the first to have a brand new set of single station weight machines.

Split over two levels, the upstairs gym room now houses a mixture of both cardio and resistance machines and downstairs there is a mixture of cardio and loose weights.

With over 1,000 members the leisure trust hopes it will be a big boost for the gym.

Open days to view the new gym are being held at 9.30am on Tuesday, May 17 and Wednesday, May 18 at 5pm.

A separate project, being funded by South Gloucestershire Council, to refurbish the changing rooms is still ongoing.