The owner of a Dumbarton gym says he’s frustrated at a lack of guidance from the Scottish Government on when fitness facilities might be allowed to reopen.

Energie Fitness in High Street has been closed since March, and owner Jamal Hashmi says he can’t understand why they have yet to be given a date – especially when pubs and restaurants have now been open and serving alcohol indoors for nearly a fortnight.

Jamal told the Reporter: “I can see no reason at all why there continues to be little information about leisure centres and gyms reopening.

“The gym is a place where people are actively seeking to improve their health and wellbeing and if anything they would likely be over-cautious in their attempts to keep their environment and other members clean and minimise infection spreading.

“Even before lockdown, 95 per cent of my customers were adhering to our own hygiene policies and cleaning everything down after using machines.

“We have introduced all sorts of safety measures to ensure we can open right away.

“We had previously heard word from politicians that it could be July 15, then it was July 25. Now we are sick of speculation and it’s just a waiting game until we receive an official date.”

While the gym may not be open to its members, measures have been taken behind closed doors to ensure the facility adheres to all hygiene rules when the green light is finally given.

Jamal said he was grateful to the small number of members who have continued to pay the full price of their monthly membership while the gym has been closed – but also pointed out that the fitness industry had not been included in the UK Government’s 15 per cent cut in VAT to the hospitality and tourism sectors.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Exercise is good for physical and mental health and we know that many people have been missing going to the gym.

“We don’t want these restrictions to be in place a minute longer than we judge to be necessary but, for now, indoor gyms must remain closed as they involve prolonged close social contact, which increases the chance of infection spreading.

“We’d like to thank gym owners and their members for their patience at this challenging time.”