A £950,000 plan to revamp four leisure centres serving a population of 90,000 residents has been unveiled in a bid to arrest a decline in their use.

Hambleton District Council, which has a stated aim of “improving the health and well being of the community through provision of excellent leisure facilities", is launching the revamp of its centres in Stokesley, Northallerton, Thirsk and Bedale after 5,000 fewer people visited them last year than in 2011-12.

A meeting of the cabinet heard that falling gym memberships and people using the swimming pools had led to £70,000 less than expected being generated for its health and leisure budget.

The drop comes after six years of rising income.

The council’s deputy leader Peter Wilkinson said while he was deeply concerned about the decline in use of the leisure centres, he believed it was closely related to residents having less money to spend.

“The economic downturn has affected us all and one of the first luxuries to go is gym membership," he said.

“Northallerton particularly has a lot of leisure centre members working in public service, such as the soon-to-close Rural Payments Agency, so they will be cutting back and looking at alternative ways to exercise.”

He said Bedale Leisure Centre had appeared outdated following the opening of the privately-run Catterick Leisure Centre in 2009, which features three pools, a 42-station gym, volleyball, badminton and basketball courts and a dance studio.

“Bedale now has to compete with the Catterick centre, but we hope a refurbishment will bring people back.”

Coun Wilkinson said when the budget was set for health and leisure in January, councillors thought income from the centres would continue to grow in line with the last six years.

Figures showing the number of users from April to June this year showed that income from the centres was far below the amount officers had predicted.

“We have committed to investing £650,000 between Stokesley, Bedale and Thirsk centres to refurbish and in some cases improve layouts.

“And next year we will be spending £300,000 in Northallerton on renovation works.

“We want to keep our customers and bring in new ones, and once the work is done our centres will feel fresher and newer, and be more appealing.”