More than £300,000 has been spent on the upkeep of an empty gym by Merton Council in less than a year.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that since the Virgin Active site in Battle Close closed in December last year, £336,641 has been spent by the council to maintain the site.

Included in this amount is the cost of business rates as well as the amount paid to secure and clean the property following a break in by squatters in March this year.

Going forward it is anticipated the council will spend a further £27,000 per month until an owner can be found.

RELATED: Squatters break into Virgin Active Battle Close site

This figure baffled entrepreneur Danny Keith who offered to run a gym out of the site on a two year temporary basis. However his offer was refused.

"Leaving the building empty to rack up huge costs is just simply irresponsible and although a gym makes more sense because no planning consent will be needed, there are plenty of other community groups that could make good use of the facility in the interim," he said.

"There is a lot of frustration within the community and rightly so when you consider how much is being spent each month.

"I will get behind any decision that the council make on the long-term plan for the site but in the interim, I have the experience and the passion to not only solve a problem for the council but also bring something great to the community."

REALTED: Plans to build new gym rejected

In the FOI, the report said that the council was "actively working to minimise the costs" associated with the site.

When this was put to the council, a spokeswoman said: “We were very sorry when the Virgin Active Gym decided to close their site and it reverted to our ownership, particularly because we would have to pay for its upkeep.

"We have therefore been willing to look at alternative uses, and have been open to discussion with businesses but we have made it clear we will only accept a deal that is good for local council taxpayers.

"We have had confidential discussions with a business but their offer has not met our requirements, and although they are obviously disappointed, we cannot allow a public site to be used for private profit on terms that are bad for local taxpayers."

"We will now look to whether there is a chance to deliver more much-needed housing. Although it could take 18 months to go through planning and we need to ensure the site is available for development by then, we remain open to realistic alternative offers in the meantime.”