A Virgin Active gym in the county is among 35 being sold to a not-for-profit healthcare organisation for an undisclosed sum.

Nuffield Health will take control of the sports centre in Medway Leisure Park in Strood in the autumn, boosting its number of health and wellbeing sites to 112.

The company already operates 31 hospitals, including Tunbridge Wells Hospital, as well as 77 fitness and wellbeing gyms and more than 200 corporate gyms, including a gym at Knightspark Leisure Park in Tunbridge Wells.

The Strood gym will continue to trade under the Virgin Active brand until the takeover is completed.

However, members will no longer be able to use other Virgin Active clubs once their membership is transferred to its new owners.

Its expected the gym will eventually include additional Nuffield Health services including physiotherapy, health assessments, health MOTs and nutritional therapy.

Nuffield said it will keep all its new sites open and will not be cutting any jobs.

Chief executive Steve Gray said: “This acquisition is a great move forward and allows us to increase the pace of delivery of our strategy and our charitable purpose, to help people achieve, maintain and recover to the level of health and wellbeing they aspire to.”

Paul Woolf, chief executive of Virgin Active Group, said: “This is a positive deal with a compelling rationale for both ourselves and Nuffield Health.

“We believe that the success of these clubs will continue under Nuffield Health and are pleased that the members and club teams will be transferred, which was a very important consideration for us.”