Newcastle City Council (NCC) has invested £3.45m in refurbishing its Outer West Pool, Newburn Leisure and Eldon Leisure sites, including the creation of new Impulse Fitness gyms at each centre.

Newburn – which is set to launch its new facilities on 7 December – has seen a £2.2m overhaul of the original building, with new additions including a 260sq m (2,800sq ft) fitness suite, a climbing wall, aerobic studio, group cycling studio, new reception area, new changing rooms and a children’s play area.

The centre, operated by the Newburn Riverside Recreation Association, received £627,000 from Sport England and has been awarded IFI accreditation.

NCC-owned Outer West, to be completed on 9 December, features a new £500,000 twin-level fitness suite, while Eldon has benefited from a £750,000 expansion of its gym area along with a sauna and two new therapy suites.

All the new gyms are supplied by Life Fitness.

In total, Impulse Fitness has around 4,500 members and hopes to hit 6,000 by April 2006. The council now plans to extend the brand across its 11 leisure centres.