Chesterfield gym reopens - but whole Brampton Manor site could 'soon' be turned into retirement village

Craig Lynch confirmed the news in a statement to the Derbyshire Times on Friday.

"Plans are afoot to turn the whole of Brampton Manor into a retirement village soon and I would encourage people to come down and enjoy the bar, spa and Princes Sports Club as it moves towards its next regeneration," he said.

No further details have yet been released.

The news came over a week after Princes Sports Club - which is based on the Brampton Manor site at Old Road - shut unexpectedly.

It reopened on Sunday.

Princes Sports Club said on its Facebook page that the 'potential moves' outlined by Mr Lynch 'may never come to fruition'

Stephen Prince, the gym’s owner, added in a statement: "Our contractual obligations are directly with the owners of the Brampton Manor site and with their support we can continue operating and investing in Princes Sports Club without caveats.

"We would like to now put behind us the events from the last few days and look forward to a positive future."

A 'forfeiture of tenancy' notice had been put up at the gym's premises.

The notice stated: "Under the conditions of the implied periodic tenancy of these premises held by the tenant, rent due has not been paid to the landlord.

"The premises have been recovered by the landlord."

The notice stated that Pudding Pie Catering (Wigley) Ltd, which is one of Mr Lynch's companies, was the landlord and Public Sector Consultants Ltd, which is owned by Mr Prince, was the tenant.

In his statement issued to the Derbyshire Times, Mr Lynch added: "Following confirmation that I am no longer Public Sector Consultants Ltd's landlord as he has no valid lease on the premises, and the agreement of the site owners to deal with Mr Prince directly, I am pleased to announce that I have permitted re-occupation of the sports club.

"Nobody is more delighted than me that collecting Public Sector Consultants Ltd's rent is no longer my problem.

"I would point out that this all could have been dealt with while Public Sector Consultants Ltd was in occupation if he had continued to pay rent up and this was all put in place and we could have avoided putting the staff and members through this."

Mr Prince said: "We have the support of the owners of the Brampton Manor site to continue operating as Princes Sports Club without caveats, absolving us of any wrong doing.

"They also confirmed that the legal advice we obtained to refrain from paying rental monies to the third party called Pudding Pie Catering (Wigley) Ltd to be a sensible course of action."