The Fitness Industry Association (FIA) is calling for health club operators and the government to recognise the "crippling" effect the new Business Rate Supplement (BRS) will have on the sector, and on public health campaigns.

Given the large and expensive spaces fitness facilities require, if the extra tax of 2p in the £1 is introduced, clubs with a rateable value of more than £50,000 would pay anywhere between £1,000 and £13,000 more in business rates - per club, per year.

The proposed bill will allow local authorities to levy an additional tax, on top of current business rates, to raise funds for economic development projects.

Andrée Deane, the FIA's CEO, says there is a fundamental inconsistency between the government's targets for increased participation in physical fitness and "imposing a crippling tax burden on the very organisations tasked with helping to reach those targets.

"BRS isn't a stealth tax, but it's not high on many managers or owners agendas - and it should be."

The FIA is calling for fitness organisations to be exempt from the tax and, if not, for the threshold to be increased beyond £50,000. Colin Moynihan, British Olympic Association chair, agrees: "A BRS, coupled with the expected rise in Uniform Business Rates, has the potential to inflict a significant and negative impact on public and private health and fitness facilities."