More than one million visit Dudley leisure centres

The figure is marginally down from the previous year, but bosses have praised the number of people who continue to stay fit and active in the borough.

Between April 2013 and March 2014, there were around 1.27 million visits logged to leisures centres in Dudley, Halesowen and Stourbridge.

In the same period a year later there were more than 1.25 million visits, with council chiefs saying an increase in the range of activities on offer, such as fitness classes, and a £1.5 million revamp of gyms at the sites has helped attract more people.

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, cabinet member responsible for leisure, has welcomed the news and highlighted the schemes available to users.

He said: "More than 1,255,000 visits were made to our leisure centres last year, which shows that our leisure services continue to be popular with people.

"There has been an increase of nearly 7,000 visitors to Halesowen and Crystal leisure centres and Dudley Leisure Centre has continued to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors despite new competition from nearby budget gyms.

"The centres have regularly updated fitness programmes to keep users motivated and in December we launched the 'merry fitness' deal, offering a 12-month adult membership for just £200.

"Leisure facilities form part of the wider consultation on the budget which is open to the public until early next year."

The £1.5 million investment in leisure centre gyms came in 2008 and has seen a huge rise in membership figures, from 600 to nearly 4,000 by October 2014.

Also highlighted were the number of alternative swimming pools in the area, including a new £15m centre in Bilston.

Neighbouring borough Sandwell reported a similar rise in visitor numbers to its leisure centres, with around 1.6 million visits logged between April 2013 and March 2014, which is up by six per cent on the previous year.

Staff say one of the reasons for the increase is the free swimming scheme that was launched last summer.

Around £38.5 million has already been spent by the authority on building three new leisure centres in Tipton, Oldbury and West Bromwich.

More than £8 million was spent on a new centre in Wednesbury, which opened in November and was named in honour of Joel Richards. It features a 25-metre pool, two dance studios and a 100-station fitness suite.