A council-owned gym in Cowley has reopened to the public after a £100,000 revamp.

Oxford City Council’s own officers had described the gym at Temple Cowley Pools and Fitness Centre, in Temple Road, as poor quality” and in poor condition, in an official report.

The centre closed for most of December for gym improvements including a brand new 35-station suite of fitness equipment, air-conditioning and a general sprucing up of the facilities.

Bob Timbs, the council’s board member for leisure, had described the facilities as “one of the worst gyms I have ever walked into” and said the refurbished gym offered a much classier experience.

He said: “I am delighted the Temple Cowley gym has now opened.

“It is bigger and brighter with new, state-of-the-art equipment, and I hope it will attract more people to use the centre.

“We would like to encourage more people to get involved in some sporting activity, at least three days a week, if only for half an hour.”

The future of the whole centre, which lost £533,000 in the 2007/08 financial year, is undecided, with the facilities likely to be demolished at some stage in the future to make way for a new leisure centre on a new site.