THE owners of a new gym in Wilburton have expressed their disappointment after their plans to open a new facility in the village were cancelled by East Cambridgeshire District Council (ECDC). Mark and Sean Langley had hoped to announce the opening of thei

THE owners of a new gym in Wilburton have expressed their disappointment after their plans to open a new facility in the village were cancelled by East Cambridgeshire District Council (ECDC).

Mark and Sean Langley had hoped to announce the opening of their new gym on Stretham Road in time for the end of this month, but they were they refused planning permission by ECDC and had to cancel plans to open to the public.

The news came as blow to owner Mark, who said that the duo had little support from council officers throughout the planning process,

"We were very disappointed that the council has refused our planning permission. We are trying to start up a local business that would bring jobs to the area and provide a decent alternative facility to local people, said Mark.

"We have been told that there are access and highways issues on the site but we can't see how our setup is different to a number of other businesses in the area which have similar access arrangements."

The duo will now have to reapply to the council addressing the issues raised or face having to scrap plans for the gym, which owner Mark said had already generated considerable local interest from potential customers and staff,

"We have had a lot of interest locally and want to apologies to those people who have been in touch but we will be reapplying to the council and hopefully we can have things up and running in time for the summer," he said.

A spokesman for ECDC confirmed that planning officers had opted to refuse permission for the gym but said that the option of appealing the decision or resubmitting the plans was still open to the owners.