A TOP gym school is appealing for sponsorship from businesses to help pay off a bank loan. The Wiltshire School of Gymnastics, Melksham, urgently needs financial backers to help keep costs down.

The gym recently made boys' coach Levente Molnar-Schondorfer redundant sparking outrage among parents.

The gym has around 1,000 members and has launched the career of many young gymnasts including Sam Bayley, 15, who has been selected to represent Great Britain in the 2004 Olympics.

Two of the gym's trustees resigned after the coach was sacked, claiming the rest of the board should be more open about the financial situation and now other trustees are appealing for businesses to help them reduce its £260,000 mortgage.

Trustee Paul Wiltshire said: "After two years in the new gym we have had to review our operations and the ways in which we can keep our costs down and our fees to a minimum and still provide a high standard of coaching and opportunities for our gymnasts. One of those ways is to create partnership funding with businesses to reduce or clear our loan commitment.

"We can then redirect the monies where they are most effective, like in our coaching staff and equipment."

The gym is a registered charity and trustees want fees to stay low to keep up the mandate of providing gymnastics for all in the South West.

Trustee Colin Harrison said: "We feel we provide an important contribution to the community.

"We have gymnasts who come to the gym just for an hour's fun a week up to and including the British and Welsh squads who use the facilities for training.

"We also work closely with local schools, provide facilities for disabled gymnasts and are looking to increase those links not only with the schools but with the local sports development officers and hopefully, in the future, the proposed Sports College in Devizes.

"We employ three full-time and 24 part-time coaches and are looking for more part-time recreational coaches to revamp our gymnastics classes."

Mr Molnar-Schondorfer has been given a new post at the Baskerville Gym, Bath, and many of his students have left the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics to follow him there.

Ex-trustee Julian Lander who surrendered his position on the board when he heard the boys' coach was to be sacked said: "The remaining trustees will be looking for sponsorship as a lot of their income has gone.

"Since the coach has gone to another gym around 90 per cent of his pupils have followed him."