UPSET gym user Isla Reid said she feels let down after The Fitness Studio in Loudwater suddenly closed for business and her membership fee was not refunded.

The Wooburn Green resident paid £400 for a three year membership for the former Treadaway Hill gym in October.

She said she has lost £100 in cash that she paid out of her own pocket, while her dad is trying to claim back the other £300 through his credit card insurance.

She said she knows of dozens of others who have lost money, while several members have also told the Bucks Free Press they have not been paid back their fees.

Miss Reid said Gavin O'Brien, the owner of The Fitness Studio, had let her and dozens of other members down by not warning them of the companies financial difficulties.

The former Amersham and Wycombe College student, said: “I'd saved up that money and I have loans and things to pay off.

She said two of her friends had paid for long-term memberships five weeks before the gym closed.

All the gym's equipment was auctioned last month and a completely new business, The Oaks Health and Fitness Club, opened last week (see links below). No memberships were transferred to the new gym.

Gavin O'Brien, owner of The Fitness Studio, said: “I completely understand the anger of members and I would like them to know that I battled very hard to continue the business myself and then to sell it as a going concern, which right up to the last few days seemed to be the most probable outcome.

“We did not, to the best of my knowledge and belief, take on any new members in the last few weeks before closing, because as soon as it became apparent that closing was a possibility, I immediately instructed all staff to only offer free trial memberships.”

The company's finances are now being managed by liquidators in Leicestershire.

FA Simms & Partners Ltd would not tell the Bucks Free Press how many members had lost their fees but said “all known creditors have been written to by the liquidators”.

He added: “Any additional creditors should contact the liquidators.”

The contact details are: FA Simms & Partners, 39 Station Road, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, LE17 4AP. Email: rsimms@fasimms.com