Hundreds of Xercise4Less members have come out in support of the low-cost gym chain after the company came in for criticism on last night’s edition of the BBC consumer rights show Watchdog.

Gym users tweeted their support last night in the wake of a Watchdog investigation into cancellation procedures at some of the 32 Xercise4Less health clubs.

The programme highlighted five cases where members’ cancellation orders hadn’t been processed, leading to direct debit payments continuing to be taken from their accounts. In one instance where a member had cancelled her direct debit payment, the outstanding amount was passed on to an asset recovery service. In a slightly less clear-cut case, one member was aggrieved to have signed up for a gym which hadn’t yet opened.

Xercise4Less has apologised and refunded all of the members affected, adding that “human errors do, very occasionally, occur.” Meanwhile, the gym chain’s 250,000 UK members rallied round in support, with hundreds taking to Twitter to air their views on the programme’s findings.

One member writing under the handle ‘cannyfella’ tweeted: “@Xercise4Less just watched @BBCWatchdog and what a load of rubbish, excellent service, excellent equipment, top notch advice all for £9.99”

Another, Michael Heath, wrote: “@Xercise4Less is the best gym iv been to watchdog need to get a better story to talk about #bleedyellow #Getagrip”

Can't believe what @BBCWatchdog said about @Xercise4Less, best gym there is, the BBC is going right down market!!

— alex (@A_Morant1) October 29, 2015

“We would like to thank everyone who has offered their support on our social media channels over the last 12 hours, we have been truly overwhelmed by the amount of positive comments," Xercise4Less CEO Jon Wright told Health Club Management.

"On behalf of Xercise4Less I can only apologise unreservedly to the very small number of members who have had difficulties cancelling their membership. These cases have now been resolved with full apologies and refunds. We have over 250,000 happy members paying from just £9.99 a month and we will continue to improve our services as we expand throughout the UK, making fitness accessible and affordable for all."

In a statement, ukactive executive director Steven Ward added: “Xercise4Less provide a crucial service to communities across the UK, helping individuals and families access physical activity services at a competitive price in trying economic times.

“Although ukactive is unable to comment on specific contractual matters relating to individual cases, from the information presented to us Xercise4Less is compliant with all requirements in this area.”