EMPTY units in a Bournemouth shopping centre are to be converted into a gym – the third to open in the town centre.

Flex Gym is set to open in the Avenue Centre within the next three weeks and it pledges to offer something completely different from the gyms which already exist at the Triangle and on Westover Road.

Company director Henry Turnbull said: “We are predominantly a weights-based gym and will have just over 10,000 square feet of weights space, which will make us the largest weights gym on the south coast.

“We are going to specialise in power lifting and we will have Olympic athletes training at the gym.

“We are a serious gym designed to cater for people who are dedicated to fitness, but our pricing is in line with the other commercial gyms.”

A planning application has been lodged seeking approval to use a unit on the lower ground floor of the shopping centre as a gym.

A unit on the ground floor will be used to sell fitness equipment and clothing, health products and sports supplements.

The gym will have a separate access from Avenue Road so that it can operate when the shopping centre is closed.

The intended opening hours are between 6.30am and 10.30pm in the week, with earlier closing times on Saturdays and Sundays.

The planning application, submitted by Sibbett Gregory on behalf of Flex Gym, states the new gym will generate employment, contribute to the evening economy and provide a service to town residents, workers and visitors.

“The proposed development has strong economic and social roles and to some degree an environmental role in providing a facility in a sustainable location and enhancing the vitality of the town centre,” the application states.