SPORTS Direct is opening hundreds of cut-price gyms to continue its expansion.

The firm, founded by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, aims to set up 200 gyms across the UK.

Bosses say the company with charge £5 a month.

Its first purpose-built gym will be in Aintree, near Liverpool, with another in Keighley, West Yorkshire, though the company told The Northern Echo it has not ruled out setting up sites in the North-East.

The move is expected to put pressure on experienced gym operators, such as David Lloyd Leisure and Bannatyne Health and Fitness, and comes after low cost firms Pure Gym and the Gym Group abandoned £300m merger plans.

Sports Direct made the announcement after finalising a deal to buy up to 30 sites from another gym company, LA Fitness, which it is now re-branding.

A spokesman said: “This will revolutionise the market by making private gym membership a realistic lifestyle choice for millions of people.

“It will be affordable fitness on an unprecedented scale.”

He added the firm was trialling its £5 price deal ahead of plans to roll it out at the former LA Fitness sites.

The gym venture is the latest move from Mr Ashley, who last week revealed he now controls 12.7 per cent of Debenhams, after setting up a complicated bet on the department store’s future performance.

The Sports Direct group’s total interest in Debenhams has risen after it sold a 4.6 per cent stake bought last month and swapped it for a put option agreement, giving Sports Direct influence over shares equivalent to 6.1 per cent of Debenhams.

The share sale is likely to have netted a profit for Sports Direct of £2m.

The sports retailer already has concession areas in four of the department stores and is thought to also want to introduce its fashion brands, such as Firetrap and Kangol.

Last month, The Northern Echo revealed Sports Direct was providing work for clothes-maker The AMA Group, in Peterlee, east Durham, in a deal to supply more than 1,000 girls’ leggings in the style of Disney’s Frozen story.