A £200,000 upgrade of facilities at Cinderford’s leisure centre were officially opened by the town mayor and the Chair of the Forest Council.

Mayor of Cinderford Cllr Roger Sterry and Cllr Jane Horne had the opportunity to try out some of the new equipment in the large gym at the Freedom Leisure Centre.

Work started on the improvements in August and were completed at the end of October.

Freedom Leisure was awarded the contract to run the Forest Council’s leisure centres in April.

The gym now has the latest cardiovascular equipment along with a huge range of free weights and resistance kit

Also new to the gym is a modular function rig, a 10m carpet track with tyre flip and sled pull, and an Olympic weightlifting platform.

There is also a new 14-bike indoor cycling studio and the latest state-of-the-art virtual cycling experience – the only gym in Gloucestershire to have it.

The centre is also a planning a new timetable including some with virtual instructors increasing the current nine classes per week to 48.

Dave Spencer, Freedom Leisure’s area manager, said:: “The opening was to formally mark the completion of work and hand the facilities over to the public, and we were delighted to have had so many council members join us for the occasion. We are extremely proud of the new facilities.

“Most importantly, members have already reported to us how happy they are with the enhanced facilities and offerings – which is excellent, and since April 1 we have seen a 1,400 per cent increase in membership which is wonderful.”