The memory of grandfather Chris Young, who died of a heart attack while working out at a gym, will live on after a sports room was named in his honour.

Mr Young, of Downing Street, Chippenham, was airlifted to hospital after being taken ill at The Gym on Bumpers Farm.

His widow Tina, Mr Young’s childhood sweetheart, his daughter Danielle and son Tom gathered at the centre for the unveiling of the Chris Young Studio Hall on Monday.

Mrs Young said: “When the staff told me they were going to do this I was chuffed and really touched by it – I thought it was really lovely.

“Chris loved going to the gym and he knew everyone there.”

Mr Young, who was 47, joined the gym when it opened, and shed three stone through regular exercise and healthy eating, making his sudden death a shock for friends and family.

“I am very slowly settling down but it is difficult and I still miss him,” Mrs Young said. “I am very proud of my late husband and everything he achieved – he was a very special man.

“I would like to thank everyone at the gym for all they did for Chris.”

Gym staff decided to rename the hall, which is used for kick-boxing, circuits and pilates, to make sure the popular dad, known as Big Fella, was remembered.

Manager Mike Deedigan said: “It was a fitting tribute to a man who obviously loved the gym.”

Mr Young, grandfather to two-year-old Harry, was very health conscious and even had medical tests after his two older brothers had heart bypasses.

Speaking after he died on March 2, Mrs Young said a post-mortem revealed he had narrowing arteries and several were blocked.

He had a heart attack last year but had not known. When Mr Young collapsed at the gym, three gym staff, all first aid trained, tried in vain to save him.

A bench has been installed at St Nicholas Church in memory of Mr Young, who loved walking around Chippenham.

Family and friends have so far helped Mrs Young raise more than £600 Wiltshire Air Ambulance for its part in trying to save her husband.