Men banned from gym spa sessions as women feel uncomfortable for ‘religious reasons’

The exclusive gym chain, which offers memberships costing up to £200 a month, begun introducing sessions for female members only from October at select branches.

One of the branches includes Purley in Croydon, South London.

The women-only spa sessions are being offered to members during peak evening hours, ranging from 6pm to 8pm every Thursday.

The spa offers a crystal steam room, a citrus steam room, an indoor Finnish sauna as well as a Himalayan salt sauna.

It also offers a salt water hydro pool, a plunge bath, ice fountain, deep relax room, heated beds and a fire and ice room.

Male members at the Purley branch told the Daily Mail they were “not consulted” about the scheduled sessions, which came into force earlier this month.

They also claim their complaints about the sessions have been ignored, with the branch confirming via email this week the women-only sessions would continue.

They accused David Lloyd of “discriminating against men” with a “medieval policy” that puts male and female members against each other.

However, those responding to the complaints said the sessions were offered due to some female members feeling “uncomfortable” around men for “religious reasons”.

Male members told the Daily Mail that they have not been offered a reduction in their membership fees, despite losing access to the spa straight after work on Thursday evenings.

Sam, 50, who has been a member of David Lloyd for 15 years, told the Daily Mail: “There has hardly been any communication at all.

“They put up small signage by the entrance to the spa saying they were introducing women’s only sessions around four to five days before they started.

“A lot of people didn’t even know about it. There was no email communication. They’ve not consulted at all with the members and the manager said that some members were not using the spa anymore because of men.”

He added: “One of the reasons given was that some Muslim women don’t feel comfortable. Then when I asked about an equivalent session for men, the response I got was that men don’t feel uncomfortable around women.

“I know some men who don’t feel comfortable with their bodies might try to go when it is a bit quieter, so you can’t just categorically say they wouldn’t be affected.”

Another member said: “I think the women’s hours are borderline discrimination. If there are men out there making women feel uncomfortable, then deal with them accordingly and take away their membership.

“They gave me two reasons. One, because some women felt uncomfortable, which is basically tarring all men with the same brush which I took issue with and the second one was religious reasons.”

He added: “I think it’s a medieval policy. When you are talking about religious purposes, I think you have to have got a duty to all. There’s so many religions out there and there are also lots of atheists as well.”

GB News has contacted David Lloyd for comment.