Plans have been submitted for a new 24-hour gym in a disused unit at a town retail park.

The Gym Group has submitted a planning application to take over the former Carpetright building at Kingstanding Retail Park in Tunbridge Wells.

“The unit is currently vacant and was formally occupied as a retail unit by a carpet store,” the fitness firm writes in planning documents.

They say they “aim to increase access to health and fitness activities to a wider demographic to encourage and improve health and wellbeing by providing a low-cost and flexible gym membership option”.

They continue: “The Gym Group provides a high quality but cheaper option for health and fitness activity, with 24-hour opening hours providing flexibility for its customers.

“The business model of The Gym Group is as a budget operator servicing a local population.”

A standard membership with The Gym Group is £19.99 a month, and the most expensive is £25.99.

The town already has several gyms such as PureGym and Tunbridge Wells Fitness & Wellbeing Gym run by Nuffield Health.

Fifteen full-time jobs are set to be created at the new fitness centre which will not contain “destination facilities such as swimming pools, sauna, café, crèche”.

Strood, Gillingham and Ashford already have their own Gym Group venues and there are more than 240 in the UK.

Cllr Victoria Jone (Lab), who represents the area on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC), said: “I am pleased to see this potential development on the site.

“As the new business park takes shape over the next year or so, having a centre for fitness and wellbeing right on its doorstep and accessible to residents in Knights' Park is a positive development.”

The retail park has been there for decades but has undergone expansion in recent years since a planning application for an extra 74,000 sq m of business space was approved.

Kingstanding Retail Park is home to numerous other businesses including TK Maxx, B&Q, Currys, Argos and numerous fast food restaurants and car dealerships.