PUBS and hotels group Whitbread said membership of its David Lloyd Leisure fitness clubs had fallen but the chain continued to deliver "creditable" sales growth.
Whitbread said there had been a fall in membership renewals at some of its older clubs that opened three or more years ago, in the chain of 65 centres around the UK and continental Europe.
A spokeswoman for the group said the chain, which owns clubs in Teesside and Newcastle, was facing increased competition in some parts of the UK, although she declined to give details of the membership decline.
She said that recently-opened clubs, such as those in Oxford and Worthing, in East Sussex, had been close to being oversubscribed and that clubs in the Netherlands and Belgium were doing well.
''The clubs are still generating good, strong sales growth,'' the spokeswoman said.
In January, the group dismissed speculation that it planned to demerge its David Lloyd operation.
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