Bannatyne Fitness is to open another four sites after securing £73m in funding from the Allied Irish Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

The privately-owned chain, which currently operates 33 clubs, will use the funds to build new facilities in Rotherham, Hastings and Shrewsbury and one other, undisclosed location.

Work will get underway immediately on the sites in Hastings and Rotherham.

With a Folkestone club due to open at the beginning of October, the new clubs will bring the company closer to its aim of operating 40 sites by 2006.

“We are continuing to invest and expand our network of clubs to meet the demand for high quality, private health clubs in the UK,” said Nigel Armstrong, operations director.

“The rapid growth of this company has led to Bannatyne Fitness becoming the UK’s largest independent health club operator and will see us meet our target of 40 clubs.”

Bannatyne was ranked as one of the top fastest-growing companies in the Deloitte Indy 100 survey earlier this month.