FITNESS at Crediton has become more interesting and fun thanks to an £185,000 investment by Mid Devon District Council at its Lords Meadow Leisure Centre in Crediton.

The money has been spent on refurbishing the Fitness Suite there, which has meant new equipment. There are now 50 stations, new signs and a whole new layout.

Although some of the equipment was in use before Christmas, it was formally opened on Thursday, January 10 by Cllr Colin Slade, the district council’s Cabinet member for Community Welfare whose portfolio includes the three leisure centres.

Tiverton’s leisure centre has already had this sort of work done and Cullompton’s is planned for refurbishment in the near future.

One of the pieces of equipment of which the leisure centre staff are particularly proud is the Boditrax biometrical body analysis machine.

There is one at Tiverton and it is thought that these, plus one in Exeter, could be all there are in Devon at present.

The work at Crediton and Tiverton has been done with Matrix Fitness whose Mid Devon account manager is Chris Belcher who lives near Crediton and uses the leisure centre. Tim Grainger-Smith is the head of sales for the public sector.

Before cutting the big red ribbon across a door, Cllr Slade said this was a "significant investment" for the district council giving state-of-the-art facilities while reflecting the needs of the Leisure Centre members.

There are 25 pieces of aerobic equipment and 14 resistance machines, benches and flexible work out spaces among the new stations, designed for all abilities and allowing for GP referrals which, said Cllr Slade, continue to grow.

He said it was great credit to the Leisure Centre team at Crediton and the district council housing and estates teams who had worked on the project. He also thanked Ken White Signs for their work.

Cllr Slade added that he was "personally delighted" that the district council had been able to make this investment into the Crediton leisure centre having already invested in Tiverton last year.

"It is our ambition to make sure everyone in Mid Devon has access to the latest and finest equipment," he said.

Chris Belcher said the team had put a lot of effort into the design so that stations had somewhere for users to put their water bottle and a bag. The layout had been rearranged to make better use of the space.

One room housed the cardio-vascular machines, the other the 25 ellipticals.

Then there are the additions such as the screen on which users can choose any sort of background - one lady had chosen to cycle through Paris and said she used to live in Sydney and it took her back when she chose that background.

One person said that she usually takes a photograph to show friends where she has been on that visit.

Or there is “Netflix”, “Kindle”, “Facebook”, television and much more to choose from. This prospect greatly encouraged someone who said how boring it had been to use the machines previously.

The Biotrax body composition machine measures your muscle, water, fat and bone, it is a medical grade machine, rather expensive but extremely useful and helpful.

Corinne Parnall, Health and Fitness Manager for the three Mid Devon leisure centres added that anyone who had known the Lords Meadow fitness suite would find it much changed and more spacious while offering more stations.

Parking is free at the leisure centre but restricted to three hours and for centre users only to discourage off-site workers from filling it, leaving no room for members.

There will be the usual annual membership fee increase in April.

Cllr Frank Letch, Mayor of Crediton who has used the leisure centre and his wife is a current member, said he was "very impressed" with the standard of the equipment, in particular the bikes where you can cycle through a panorama of your choice.

He added it was good to see the money the district council got from the sale of the council offices in Crediton being spent wisely in Crediton on Crediton.