A POPULAR fitness class used by Chipping Campden residents faces possible closure after being told it will need to pay for at least two hours - despite classes only lasting one hour.

Angela Stanley's Chipping Campden Zumba class began six years ago and, as numbers grew, it moved to the Town Hall where weekly one-hour sessions - held on Mondays and Thursdays - have been running since 2012.

But recently the class instructor was told by the Town Hall Trust, which manages the Grade II listed hall, that there was to be a change in booking policy meaning that, from January, every group will need to book for a minimum of two hours.

Mrs Stanley said for the Zumba group this means paying more than double the previous hiring hourly rate of £17 an hour, rising to £36 for one evening session, which Ms Stanley said would make it difficult to continue to run at the venue.

Mrs Stanley said: "It is unfair.

"I have hired the hall in January, but at the moment it is looking likely we will have to stop at the end of the year.

"It is an important class, mostly ladies aged 18 up to 65-years-old, all trying to keep fit.

"It is a strange decision, it feels like they are trying to move us out."

Anne Tweedale, who attends the class, said other members had suffered from strokes and mental health issues, but seen the benefits of regularly attending.

"The classes are energetic, they are meant to be only one hour," Ms Tweedale said.

"I have had two hip replacements - I even attended when I was on crutches.

"It is a group of people with a passion, meeting at an ideal venue. As it stands we are being forced out."

Ms Tweedale added that she has now set up a petition, hoping to encouraging the trust to change their mind.

In a statement, Jo Harrigan, Chipping Campden Town Council's clerk, explained that although the Zumba class took more of a toll on the building, the decision to impose a two-hour rule had not been influenced by this.

Mrs Harrigan said: "The hall is extremely expensive to run and maintain.

"Following monitoring of hire use, it became apparent that although some hirers were booking and being charged for one hour’s use in the evening, all of these hirers were requesting access to the hall up to half an hour before their booking, to set up equipment, receive payment from their clientele and then needing 10 minutes after to pack up again.

"Trustees felt that the best way to manage the use of the hall and to ensure that hirers had the time they needed was to implement a two-hour booking rule.

"The trust understands Mrs Stanley currently charges £5.50 per person, making an income of between £137.50 and £220 per session, so the trust fails to see that a charge of £36 will make the classes unprofitable.

"In addition, due to the noise created by the Zumba class, it is impossible to hire out the Lower Town Hall on a Monday or Thursday evening, causing a loss to the trust of £12 per hour."