THE cost of exercising and parking at Andover Leisure Centre is “pricing residents out of getting fit”, according to critics.

Several residents have approached the Advertiser unhappy at the prices charged at the West Street centre, as well as the need to pay for car parking at the site.

According to its website, monthly membership – which includes use of all facilities at Andover Leisure Centre, The Rapids, Knightwood Leisure Centre and Charlton Lakes golf courses – costs £49 a month, plus a one-off £20 administration fee. The price is reduced to £39 a month if you sign up for at least 12 months, making a yearly cost of £468 plus the admin fee.

Gym-only and swim-only membership options are not offered, unlike at other centres such as Fleming Park Leisure Centre in Eastleigh. An individual gym session is £7.15, while a swim costs £3.75 per trip.

Christopher Ecclestone, of Weyhill Road, said: “Putting it bluntly, Andover Leisure Centre is overpriced.

“The excellent Fleming Park Leisure Centre has a gym-only membership that is £25 a month and the copious parking is free. An Andover resident wanting to use the centre here for the same purpose would pay at least £39 a month and then have to pay parking on top of that.

“So if they visited the gym 10 times per month they might be paying another £20 in parking charges, making the comparison £25 per month in Eastleigh versus at least £59 per month in Andover.”

Mr Ecclestone said the management of the centre, which is owned by Test Valley Borough Council and run by Valley Leisure, should be put out to tender and maximum prices imposed.

He added: “It’s time to make the centre more affordable.”

One centre user, who asked not to be named, said: “I only want to use the gym, but because they don’t offer a gym-only membership I have to pay a lot more for facilities I don’t want. I’d expect these prices at Bannatyne’s, but not at my charity-run local leisure centre. There’s no flexibility.

“It feels like they’re pricing people out of getting fit, which doesn’t seem right in a world threatened with an obesity crisis.”

Kevin Paterson, Valley Leisure chief executive, said: “We don’t currently have any ‘just for gym’ or ‘just for swim’ type memberships because we want to allow – and encourage – people to look after their health and fitness in a holistic way by using all the different facilities.

“But people can ‘pay as you’ go for either option, or can use something like SwimFit which is £6 a week.”

On the issue of parking, Mr Paterson added: “Car parking can be tricky when you’re in a town centre. We don’t have the luxury of the space of Fleming Park and we don’t own any car parks. However, people do have quite a few options, and some of them are free or quite cheap.”