West Kilbride will finally have gym facilities in the village once more, years after they closed down due to the Covid pandemic.

Locals have been lobbying for the return of the popular fitness suite, situated in the village's community centre, for months to no avail until recently.

The KA Leisure run facility has remained closed since lockdown restrictions came into place, and has as of yet not re-opened despite restrictions being lifted.

However, Conservative Councillor Todd Ferguson has been working closely with those in West Kilbride, and they now have a re-opening date for the fitness suite.

From Monday November 7, all systems are go for the returning facility, which will be open every day midweek from 9am until 9pm.

Cllr Ferguson told the Herald: “The announcement this week to re-open the gym in West Kilbride will be very welcome news for many of my constituents.

“Following the closure of the facility during the pandemic, KA Leisure have been working hard to make alterations to the service that would allow the fitness suite to open up again."

Though he did admit that the time taken to re-open the faciility became frustrating.

He added: “Frustratingly, there were many delays along the way for a variety of reasons. Once the work was completed KA and the Community Centre Association then needed to reach an agreement on the new service being provided.

“It is clear that everyone involved in the process would have preferred these discussions to have been concluded sooner than they were, which would have allowed for an earlier reopening date.

"Nonetheless, I am delighted that KA have finally announced a reopening date for the November 7.  Pre-pandemic the fitness suite was a well used facility and given the overwhelmingly positive response from local residents to the reopening announcement I am certain that it will be a well used facility once more.”

The response certainly has been positive, with many commenting on the "excellent news for the community" when Counillor Ferguson confirmed the news via social media.