A member of Virgin Active Crouch End feels “let down and disgusted” by what she sees as the club’s inflexibility during her struggle with serious illness.

The woman, who does not wish to be named, has been a member at the £89-a-month gym since 2010, when it was run by Esporta.

She has been suffering from an auto-immune disease since February that has left her unable to use most of the gym facilities. However, she has been relying on the swimming pool there to keep up her strength.

She said: “I’ve not been working and haven’t been able to use the gym at all, so I asked if they could help me. The only offer they made was that I could freeze my membership and pay £12.50 each time I use the swimming pool, or that I could pay £10 a month to use it just once a month. These just weren’t affordable or viable.”

Virgin Active said: “We are working with the member to try to find an appropriate solution.” But the woman said this week staff had “ignored the issue”.