Twenty-four hour gym franchise Snap Fitness has lodged an application with the Harborough District Council to open a gym in the town centre, as it expands its franchise in the UK.

The US-based company, founded in 2003, established its first UK gym in Sittingbourne last June, followed by a second facility in Milton Keynes the following month.

Further locations are planned for London, Leicester, Swanley, Corby and Edgware.

In Harborough the gym would occupy a 530sq m unit at the Three Manors Retail Park, which has been vacant since early 2012 when the shopping centre opened.

In its application to the council Snap Fitness says despite Market Harborough has only two gyms servicing a population of more than 40,000 and neither are in the city centre.

The gym would be staffed Monday to Saturday, with access by an electronic key after hours and on Sundays.

The proposed change of use for the retail site has prompted a petition from the local community, which fears the gym will cause traffic and congestion and encourage criminal activity due to its opening hours.

Snap Fitness is headquartered in Minnesota, US, and has 2,200 locations worldwide including in Canada, Mexico, India, New Zealand and Australia, as well as the US and UK.