Members of a gym which caters for people with disabilities are urging Sutton Council to find them a ‘like-for-like’ replacement amid plans for closure.

A group of people who have been with Sutton Centre for Independent Living and Learning (SCILL) gym, in Robin Hood Lane, do not believe there is another similar gym available close to them.

But the council says plans are in place to help members find new services before it shuts.

Chris Christakis, 50, of Shorts Road, said: “I have tried other gyms but they cannot cater for my needs, which happens [to be] at SCILL gym. It is also a social place where we can chat and train which we could not do at any other gym.

“Of all the 43 gyms in Sutton, I cannot believe that just one caters for disabilities. Only disabled people know what we need, people who are not disabled cannot tell us what our needs are.

“As far as I am concerned, along with my fellow gym users, we do not accept that we could go to various other gyms and we reject this suggestion.

“We want a like-for-like gym that we have now and not to be discriminated against in this way.”

Mr Christakis, who has been at Encompass Community Hub for two and a half years, was hospitalised for nine months and on a life support machine for a month after falling ill at work four years ago.

He is joined by Lynn Mitchell, 35, of Lancaster Way, who has been there for 18 years after contracting bone infection osteomyelitis as a baby.

With her right hip fused and her left arm is now short, she was forced to give up work through ill health because of osteoarthritis.

She said: “The gym is a vital service for my wellbeing. I feel very happy and comfortable in the gym, it’s a sociable place to be in.”

Stuart Dagley, 36, of Rougemont Avenue, has been with SCILL for nearly five years and uses the special wider bench in the facility for powerlifting because he is in a wheelchair.

Because of a serious infection which affected his spinal cord, he is now paralysed from the chest down.

The bench was provided as a loan by the British Weightlifting for the Disabled, winning gold, silver and bronze medals thereafter.

He said: “I enjoy coming to the gym as we all have different disabilities, and chat and laugh as we do our exercises.

“I know that if I could not do this, it would make life much more difficult socially for me as well as the benefits from the exercises.”

A Sutton Council spokesman said: “We are working with Encompass – the operator of the gym – to minimise the impact of the gym closure.

“Gym members have been offered one to one assessments with fully qualified staff to help find suitable nearby services.

“Both the council and Encompass want to make any potential move as easy as possible and Encompass has agreed to keep the gym open until June to provide more time for users to find new services.”

Encompass has been approached for comment.