Pump Gyms Colchester CCTV reported to Essex Police

Bosses at Pump Gyms, in Grange Way, contacted the police last week after CCTV footage of naked men appeared on social media and the messaging app Telegram.

Gym boss Marc Platter told the Gazette his company is “taking this matter seriously and has referred it to the police”.

Essex Police has confirmed its inquiries are ongoing.

Gym - Pump Gyms in Grange Way, Colchester (Image: Google)

A spokesman said: “We have received an online report relating to a premises in Grange Way, Colchester.

“At this stage, it is being assessed to identify all criminal aspects which require investigation.”

The Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s data watchdog, confirmed it has also received a report of the incident.

What happened at Pump Gyms?

Last week, the Gazette reported images from CCTV cameras in a gym’s changing room had appeared online.

A photo seen by the Gazette shows a man walking to a locker wearing just a towel, with Pump Gyms’ logo visible on a sign attached to a glass door.

The photo’s caption says a “stream is now open for subscription” costing $50 (£39) a month.

Another video posted on X, formerly Twitter, shows a man stripping off and baring all, seemingly unaware he is on camera, although nothing in the footage confirms it was recorded at any of Pump Gyms’ locations.

CCTV - cameras mounted close to the sauna and showers at the Colchester gym (Image: Supplied)

The Gazette also understands a group which has amassed hundreds of members on the messaging app Telegram is selling bundles of videos recorded on CCTV cameras from more than one gym.

A user of the 24-hour gym, which charges members £20.99 a month, deemed the situation “absolutely horrific” adding that “changing rooms should be a safe space”.

Pump Gyms, which runs seven sites in the east of England, sparked controversy earlier this year after gymgoers in Colchester raised their eyebrows over the presence of cameras in the male changing room.

The company denied claims the images were displayed on a screen in an office which is accessible to all staff, insisting the system was password protected and only accessible in response to incidents of vandalism.

Its Watford site has also been criticised after a member noticed a camera in the men’s toilets.

Gym member Kari Shah told the Watford Observer it had made him feel “unsafe” and that his privacy had been “invaded”.

Pump Gyms said it installed the camera after “vandalism and theft” which cost “thousands of pounds to repair”, and that its footage is not routinely monitored.