Nottinghamshire Police have received complaints about the way James Gardiner and Tim Lawson left the gym.

In the latest venture, some 350 locals joined the ProActive Health and Fitness club, based at Styrrup Hall Golf and Country Club – many on "special offers" of £450 cash each, up front, for a three-year deal.
But they claimed they were left weighting in vain for equipment to arrive.

Then three months after it opened, the gym suddenly shut.

Some members, who signed up via financial company Harland Leasing, have been able to cancel their monthly direct debits.

But others – signed up by a company called Associated Members Club (AMC) – say they have been denied cancellations. Meanwhile, people who were offered free sessions at the gym, via leaflets through their letterboxes, continue to turn up to find it closed.

The Newsletter has documents showing that AMC is currently under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading at Hereford.

Officers there have supplied guidance to members, advising them how to approach AMC to terminate their agreements.

Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire Police confirmed they had passed two complaints, about the closure of Styrrup Hall's ProActive Health and Fitness club, to Trading Standards, to be investigated as a "civil matter".

Bawtry couple Vicky and Nigel Entwistle were among the Styrrup victims who shelled out up front – £900 in their case, for a three-year deal.

Vicky, of Linton Close, claimed: "We've certainly learned a lesson. The deal, as it was told to us, seemed too good to be true – and it seems it was!

"When Nigel went for his induction, the gym was half empty... the equipment had never arrived, so you couldn't even have a full workout.

"There was to be a launch party and a prize draw that never materialised, and we were still waiting for more machines to arrive, when we got a phone call telling us what had happened.

"We're very disappointed and frustrated. Gym memberships are expensive, and we thought we'd got in at the right time."

The Entwistles, and others like them who paid by credit card, are now trying to claw some money back through their card companies.

The owner of Styrrup Hall Golf and Country Club, Phil Ramsey, 76, denied responsibility for the problem, saying he was as much a victim as the gym members.

He has now taken over the running of the gym with five employees, and is offering new membership deals of £24 per month, "and no gimmicks".

Those who paid up front, for "one year's membership, two years free" are being offered an £8-a-month concessionary rate for the year.

Mr Ramsey said the two men had approached him, "keen and enthusiastic" to lease the £250,000 plush gym that has been developed within the Golf Club building.

He said: "Everything seemed in order. The solicitor did a search for us and although the men had no trading record to refer to, we received a trade reference from a major company, which said they were reputable.
We went along with that."

Mr Ramsey added that Mssrs Lawson and Gardiner claimed they had all their equipment, before moving in, in August, and said they had fitness clubs in both Nottingham and Carlisle.

He went on: "They received a rent-free month, to get organised, and opened in mid-September.

"At the end of November, the Bolton company that supplied their equipment said they were claiming their machines back, so as we felt that would reflect badly on us, we served notice the next day.

"Only then did we discover that over 60 folk had paid for three years in advance. We sent a letter out advising members to cancel direct debits.

"AMC wanted us to continue with them, taking £10 of a £16 monthly fee for themselves, while sending us the remaining £6, which we were not prepared to do.

"The situation has been horrendous. We've taken over, so that we can sleep easy at night.

"I've had people shouting at me and threatening me, but I can reassure everyone the gym will be run in the same reputable way as the Golf Club."

"We will honour the AMC agreement for a year, for those who signed up for £16 a month."

A spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire police confirmed: "Nottinghamshire Police has received two reports of membership money being paid to ProActive Health and Fitness Gym in Styrrup, which has since closed down with no refund given to customers.

"Police enquiries found that the owner of Styrrup Hall Golf Club had rented a space in their building to ProActive Health and Fitness for use as a gym, but the gym owners had left the premises after they ceased paying rent.

"The case has now been referred to Trading Standards as this is a civil matter."

Mr Gardiner has an address at York Road, Doncaster, while Mr Lawson is from the Nottingham area.

Despite repeated attempts, the Newsletter has been unable to contact them.

Phone calls to both men's mobile phones went unanswered and unreturned.

We left a note at Mr Gardiner's flat at Stone Arches, York Road, Doncaster, which was not replied to.

Phone lines to a Mexborough-based company called Proactive Fitness Marketing, listing Tim Lawson as its contact, did not work. AMC promised to call us back, but didn't. Subsequent calls reached only an answering machine and were not returned.

A Nottingham gym told us how, in July, Mssrs Lawson and Gardiner had left after six months of operation under the ProActive name.