Fitness First to sell off 67 gyms

Fitness First is to sell off 67 of its gyms, including two in the Midlands, while another will stay permanently shut.

Sites at Level Street, Brierley Hill, and Foley Business Park in Kidderminster will be sold in a last-ditch bid to tackle a £600 million debt mountain.

The women-only gym in Birmingham Road, Wolverhampton, will also close for good. It shut for repairs after a fire at the AMF bowling alley above it in February.

The chain also has premises in Wednesbury, Walsall Wood and Cannock, which are thought to be unaffected by the sell-off.

It wants landlords to back a company voluntary arrangement that will see it offload the clubs to other operators over the next six months.

The deal would leave the health club firm operating 80 sites, 57 of which will move to monthly rent payments, while five others will see rent cut by more than a third for three years to help make it a leaner business.