COUNCIL leisure centres are under threat after thousands abandoned them last year in favour of budget gyms and park runs.

The total number of visits to Oxford City Council and Fusion Lifestyle centres dropped by almost 350,000 to just over 1 million last year after admitting the competition had upped their game.

A council report revealed that 'mass participation events' such as Parkrun, Race for Life and Tough Mudder were partly behind the declining numbers - as well as the emergence of more budget gyms in the city.

But it said the trend was unlikely to change, with no investment planned this year and Fusion 'feeling the squeeze' financially.

The council's scrutiny committee will today discuss the findings, which warned services could be at risk.

Leisure and performance manager, Lucy Cherry, said that people now wanted more variety and easily accessible opportunities to be active and that budget gyms were proving more popular.

She said: "These trends have seen more people doing a broader range of activities such as mass participation events such as Park Runs, Race for Life and Tough Mudders.

"Alongside this we now have three budget gyms in Oxford.

"The quality and experience provided by these gyms has improved significantly in recent years and they are a lower price than council leisure facilities."

Leys Pool and Leisure Centre, Barton Leisure Centre, Ferry Leisure Centre, Oxford Spires Sport and Fitness, Oxford Ice Rink and Hinksey Outdoor Pool are all run in partnership with the council and Fusion Lifestyle.

The new £4.9m Oxford Sports Park will also be run by Fusion Lifestyle when it opens next month.

Prior to starting the contract with not-for-profit group Fusion in 2009, leisure centres were costing the council £2m a year.

However, the figure now stands at about £100,000 annually.

But Fusion, which uses profits to plough back into services, is feeling the pinch as its faces competition from the rise in charity and park runs.

Cancer Research UK's Oxford events manager Lucy Hetherington said its Race for Life in the city and the newly introduced Pretty Muddy - a 5k muddy obstacle race - were becoming increasingly popular.

She said: "Pretty Muddy was very popular, it was just something a bit different - it's not something we have in Oxford.

"Events in the city work very well because Oxford is very accessible.

"For a lot of people our 5k and 10k events are very much a place they feel safe, particularly with our women only events - people feel they are able to take on a challenge without feeling they will be judged."

She added that the city council had been 'very supportive' in expanding its events in recent years.

The council said it had been focusing on getting inactive people active rather than trying to compete with budget gyms.

But it defended the strategy and said Oxford had moved from having one of the lowest levels of activity in the country in 2007 to being the fittest city in the UK in 2016.

Deputy leader Linda Smith said: "Leisure centres across the country are experiencing declining usage.

"This is partly due to increased competition, but it is also because people are choosing increasingly diverse ways to keep fit.

"We are proud to host a wide range of ways to keep fit in Oxford, including sports sessions at our recently-refurbishment pavilions, dance and activity groups at our 19 community centres, council-organised activities and fitness trails at our 300 acres of parks and open spaces, and the soon-to-be-open £5m Oxford Sports Park."

She added: "Over the coming months we will be working closely with Fusion Lifestyle to respond to the changing market and encourage more people to use our leisure centres, particularly those who are inactive or from more deprived areas of the city."

Wallingford-based fitness company Fittever launched an app yesterday allowing gym studios to live stream fitness classes around the world - Results Health Club Abingdon and Wallingford’s The Barn Fitness Club among the first to use the technology.

Founder Piers Chen said people were abandoning gyms and that the streaming service may be the future of exercise.

"Our overall aim is to help people overcome the barriers to exercise, and there are many.

"Many people don't have time to go to the gym and many are insecure about going, particularly with the rise of social media and they think you have to be a gym guru to exercise there.

"I'm sure there are other factors too, prices are always increasing especially in the city - it can cost hundreds of pounds for memberships and even £30 for classes."