AN ANGRY gym-user fears hundreds of people will lose their membership fees after a fitness studio in Loudwater suddenly closed down.

All the various weights and fitness machines at The Fitness Studio on Treadaway Hill have been put up for auction, after efforts to find a new owner have so far failed.

A sign at the entrance to the gym tells members the business will likely go into administration on Wednesday.

Furious Steve Conn, 50, paid £150 for a six-month membership in December.

The High Wycombe resident said the gym took on around 200 new members recently and fears they will all lose their money.

“The first we heard about the closure was seeing the sign up in the door. There might even be people who haven't seen it and are still paying.”

The gym's owner Gavin O'Brien told Mr Conn that another company, which collected members' direct debits, had collapsed and he will face a “huge personal loss” as a result.

He told the Bucks Free Press: “After four years of owning the business, this is a desperately sad end and I am very sorry for any members who will be affected by the closure.

“I have been working with a licensed insolvency practitioner for some weeks looking at various options to continue the business as a going concern.

“However, when those attempts appeared to have failed last week, I was advised to close the business and auction the equipment for the benefit of creditors, barring some last minute change in circumstances.

Mr O'Brien would not comment on whether members would be refunded or Mr Conn's claim that the gym recently took hundreds of new membership fees.