Media tycoon Shah to open techno gym

The completion of the addition to the Wiltshire Golf and Country Club comes almost two years after the founding owner of the Today newspaper bought it.

The 3,500sqft gymnasium is part of a new leisure centre complex which also features an 18-metre swimming pool, a children's pool and a Jacuzzi.

New dining rooms and bars are also near completion.

The plan is to have the facilities ready for the public by this weekend, with an official opening ceremony the following weekend.

Mr Shah also plans a 50-bedroom hotel on the site, but work on this has yet to begin.

Asked about the new leisure complex, he said: "We are not exclusive. Our aim is to sell what I call affordable lifestyle."

The club was built in 1991 and passed through the hands of three owners before Mr Shah bought it in April of 2001.

He also owns The Suffolk in Bury St Edmonds, and has owned and sold two other clubs, The Norfolk and The Essex.

He said of the Wootton Bassett property: "It was a small golf club with a small restaurant, a small kitchen and a small function room, but the building has increased by perhaps five times in size."

The Technogym gymnasium includes a special computerised membership system whose benefits, the owner says, include preventing people from over-exerting themselves on the equipment.

Members will be issued with a plastic key, electronically imprinted with details such as their level of health and fitness, and if their use of a piece of equipment goes beyond their safe capabilities, the machine will shut down.

The club offers various packages for people wishing to join the club or simply use its facilities.

These range, for example, from £10 for non-members wishing to use the pool to £1,761 for a year's full membership of the club and use of all facilities at any time.

Special packages are also offered for couples, children and corporate and club users.

The Wiltshire Golf and Country Club can be contacted on Swindon 849999.