THOUSANDS of visitors have flocked to Colchester’s new sports park since its doors opened in April.

The Northern Gateway Sports Park provides both indoor and outdoor sports and leisure activities, including a one-mile floodlit cycling track, bike hire, indoor cricket and a five-court sports hall.

The sports park has been enjoying large participation across several areas with members visiting the gym more than 5,000 times and using the multi-site memberships.

According to figures, more than 1,000 users have taken part in the group fitness classes, a new timetable for which will be announced this month to improve the community offering.

The cycle and pump tracks have also proved to be popular, with more than 5,000 users using the facilities.

Sports such as badminton have attracted thousands of visitors, with 1,700 users signing up for the five-court sports hall.

The sports park is also being used by a number of local clubs, including the Stigma Trust and the Colchester Rugby Football Club, which has recently started training.

Colchester council deputy leader Sue Lissimore said: “Our new Northern Gateway Sports Park is a truly wonderful facility for the borough and something we can all be proud of.

“We’re thrilled, though not surprised, to have seen increasing numbers of people using the Sports Park since it opened last April at a reduced capacity due to Covid guidelines.

“Essex Cricket will begin using the facilities from October, along with local clubs, so we can expect some exciting developments and opportunities for the community to use the facilities going forward.”

The Northern Gateway Sports Park is expecting to attract even more visitors this autumn when top world female cyclists will complete a lap of the closed road cycle circuit before heading into Tendring.

The Women’s Tour will take place on October 8.

Councillor Sue Lissimore added: “We anticipate more than 2,000 visitors on the day clamouring for the opportunity to cheer on elite women cyclists from around the world as they ride the one-mile closed road cycle track before heading to Colchester town centre and onto Clacton in a 95.5km race to the finish line.”

Visit northerngatewaycolchester.co.uk