A LEISURE centre has apologised after some users were denied access to its gym for six weeks.

Both of the lifts at Perdiswell Leisure Centre in Worcester were out of action for a month-and-a-half, leaving some disabled users unable to access gym facilities.

City councillor Alex Mace questioned whether the problem would’ve been fixed earlier had it affected non-disabled people.

At a meeting of Worcester City Council’s communities committee on Wednesday (November 6), he said: “I did notice [on a recent visit] that both of the lifts were out of order.

CONCERNS: City councillor Alex MaceCONCERNS: City councillor Alex Mace (Image: Submitted)

“I know one of them had been out of order since May 2023 when there was an accident. The second one had been out of order since September.

“One is now back in action, but over a month and a half of both lifts being out of action is not great. That means disabled users could not access the gym for all of that time.

“Disabled users could use the centres at St John’s and Nunnery for free, but for my residents in St Stephen that’s certainly a lot less convenient.

“My big concern is the amount of time the lifts were out of action. I would expect any issues preventing able bodied people would have been dealt with a lot quicker, so I would hope we could deal with these issues a lot quicker in future please.”

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Rob Tyler, area manager for Freedom Leisure, told the committee: “I’m pleased to report that one lift is back open now.

“It’s as frustrating for the customers with a disability as it is for us.

“We’ve reached out to the customers with disabilities and provided them alternative solutions throughout the last month and a half. And we’ve apologised for the delay in that.

“We’ve been actively pushing in the background with our contractors for a speedy resolution.”

City councillor and disability rights campaigner Elena Round had said it was “disappointing” it took so long for either of the lifts to be fixed and that “those living with disabilities and long-term health conditions deserved better”.