Alsager gym owner, John Williams, who runs Ground Zero Fitness with wife Jodie, has revealed his sadness at moving classes from the town to their Kidsgrove gym due to parking charges.

And he is urging class goers to support the classes when they move and to carry on using the gym-only facilities at Ground Zero Fitness in Alsager which is staying open.

Ground Zero Fitness in Alsager has a small free car park at the back. (Photo: Nub News)

John, who lives in Alsager and adores the town, says it's with a heavy heart that he and his wife have made the decision to move the classes to their Kidsgrove gym at The Meadows.

He told Nub News: "As soon as Cheshire East Council started the parking charges on Fairview car park we saw a drop in numbers.

"We're monitoring the situation at the Alsager gym and there is a car park at the back. If people can't park they're not going to do the classes.

"We've never taken over a gym where there hasn't been free parking."

All classes will be switched to their Kidsgrove operation from February 1 because the gym there has its own car park and the nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council car park is free.

"We have a very loyal customer base in Alsager and we just urge our customers to continue using the gym and if they do classes follow them to Kidsgrovr which is only a short distance away.

"We don't want to move the classes to Kidsgrove but we have no choice," said John. "We just urge our customers to go along to the classes there and continue using the gym-only facilities in Alsager."

John said some of the members who have left due to the parking charges have been with the gym since day one when they took it over in January 2018.

John hopes gym-only users will have more chance of finding a space on the car park behind the gym - near an entrance to Milton Park - if the classes move to Kidsgrove with the free parking.

"We're hardworking people… To have to move businesses away from Alsager is disappointing. We live in the town."

The couple say the parking charges is also impacting the self-employed personal trainers who ruan courses at the gym and can be in and out f the gym three or four times a day which can amount to paying out a lot of money for parkijng charges.