BUSINESS is back on track for a Westhoughton gym that has re-opened a year to the day after it was destroyed in a fire.

BodyTORQ Fitness was one of six businesses affected when a fire ripped through a row of shops in School Street on June 1 last year.

After the fire, owner Lee Hill, who is an army physical training instructor, lost more than half of his members and was forced to train his remaining members outside before finding a temporary base in Blackrod.

But after a 12-month battle, Lee, alongside new business partners Lee Teder and Mark Ross, has finally made his dream a reality and re-opened the gym in School Street.

Mr Hill, aged 30, who has been on four tours in Afghanistan, said: "I'm really excited for it this time around.

"Last time we sort of rushed open but now we have been able to really plan what we want.

"When I was in Afghanistan, to kind of pass the time I designed what I thought was a perfect gym, and it was only really fantasy until I realised I had stumbled upon something good.

"The opening day was fantastic — it went so much better than we expected. We had well over 100 people turn up and we were expecting about 50.

"Our ambitions now are, firstly, obviously to care for the members that we have got, but ultimately grow our member base to 150.

"We have had had such a great response, it really has been amazing.

"It's quite emotional when you realise you are making a difference to people's lives — that's job satisfaction at its best."

BodyTORQ is open seven days a week with classes from Monday to Friday at 6am, 5.30pm, 6.30pm and 7.30pm.

On Saturday classes run from 8am until 11am, and the gym is also open for personal training sessions.