‘Bacon smell put me off at gym’

So he was shocked when the tempting smell of bacon and toast came wafting through the training area while he was working out at the Total Fitness gym, in Waters Meeting Road, Astley Bridge.

Mr Todd of New Bridge Gardens, Harwood said: “You start off a training session after eating hardly anything, and the last thing you want is to smell bacon and toast.”

Feeling frustrated, the 51-year-old filled in a feedback form and gave the gym 0 out of 10 for the £100,000 revamp of its kitchen and cafe area, stating that smells of cooking food were not conducive to good training.

Having registered his dissatisfaction, he left the gym at around 10am on Saturday, September 20, and got in his car to go home.

As he was about to drive off, the gym manager approached him and asked him why he had been so negative about the gym’s refurbishments, claiming other members seemed very happy with the improvements. The dispute then escalated and Mr Todd claims the manager accused him of becoming aggressive and cancelled his membership on the spot.

Mr Todd denied he was aggressive and said that it was the manager who had approached him in his car as he was trying to leave.

He said: “How can you be aggressive when you are sat in your car? He came to me. It’s utter nonsense.

“He asked me, why didn’t I have anything positive to say and said he would cancel my membership if I didn’t retract my statement.

“I refused and he just told me my membership was cancelled. I have got the right to freedom of speech.”

The fitness club claimed Mr Todd’s membership had been cancelled because they believed he had acted in “an aggressive” manner to a manager. A spokesman said: “We are always happy to discuss any comments that our members have about our clubs and have recently invested a substantial amount of money at Bolton to improve facilities there.

“We are sorry that, on this occasion, we appear not to have met the expectations of one of our members.”

pkeaveny@theboltonnews.co.uk