A Crossfit Gym has come under fire from furious neighbours who say the loud music fitness fanatics workout to is making their lives a living hell.
Gritstone CrossFit in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, has been slammed for the volume of tunes blasted out during group fitness sessions.
Locals living opposite the facility say the noise of the thumping exercise beats was pushing them to breaking point, with one saying they were ‘suffering a breakdown’.
But the gym has insisted its workout music is well within limits set by environmental health officers – and its boss has instead claimed he was being targeted in a campaign of on-going harassment by some locals.
Meanwhile, council officers who have visited the site on at least two occasions to investigate the noise levels found that ‘no statutory nuisance was ever witnessed’ and concluded the gym’s impact on neighbours was ‘marginal’.
Gritstone CrossFit in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, has been slammed for the volume of tunes blasted out across during group fitness sessions
But council officers said impact from the noise of the gym would have been ‘marginal’ on locals. Pictured are members of the gym working out as loud music is heard playing
Pictured is the gym, which recently successfully applied to extend its opening hours
The fitness centre is located opposite a row of houses on the other side of a busy A road
‘The dominating noise source was found to be from the traffic along Mossley Road,’ a report concluded.
However, one angry resident told MailOnline: ‘This CrossFit gym has been causing problems for the past 10 years where there have no respect for anyone who wants to live in peace.
‘It’s ruined my life as I’m unable to even go out my own house now as I have lived here for over 25 years and shouldn’t have to put up with this.
‘I feel like a prisoner in my own home. I can’t go to the front of my house because it’s so loud. I’ve even considered suicide.’
The 35-year-old added: ‘I’m an emotional wreck because of this. I’ve not been able to hold down a job for the past five years. I reckon I have got PTSD.’
Video footage, seen by MailOnline, has shown a large number of fitness buffs attending group sessions outside the gym – which sits opposite a quiet housing estate.
Music can be heard booming from the gym, as patrons workout on various piece of gym apparatus inside it.
The resident added the noise from the fitness hub was now impacting their mental health, leaving them feeling like a prisoner in their own home.
‘Ten years ago I was a different person where I could actively get out and do stuff I enjoy, I was even a member of a gym myself,’ they told MailOnline.
‘Over a year ago before I quit due to this problem and my mental health getting worse I would just break down entering my gym.’
However, the owner of the gym has hit back and insisted they have been a victim of an harassment campaign by some locals – which the police were now investigating.
Richard Hill, who runs Gritstone CrossFit, said the gym had been inspected by environmental health officers from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council and that the centre’s music was well within legal limits.
Pictured are members of the gym gathering outside before a group workout session
‘We are fully compliant with all regulations set by the council, who have come by twice and given us the greenlight,’ Mr Hill told MailOnline, as he declined to comment any further.
The gym last year successfully applied to the council to extend its opening hours.
In planning documents, seen by MailOnline, only one person complained about noise.
The report concluded: ‘The council’s environment services (public protection) department has investigated numerous complaints of noise generated by the operation of this gymnasium and no statutory nuisance was ever witnessed by the different investigating officers.
‘The dominating noise source was found to be from traffic along Mossley Road.’
It said noise made by the gym did not exceed ‘ambient noise generated by the traffic’.
It added: ‘The impact of the proposed extended hours of operation on the general character of the area, being within an enclave of commercial uses alongside a busy main road, would therefore be marginal.’
MailOnline approached Greater Manchester Police for comment.
