A FITNESS group for older people say they are being sidelined at their Council-run leisure centre to make way for children’s summer camps.

The Time Off On Fridays For Over-50s – Toffs for short – are a mainstay at the Richard Dunn sports centre, particularly on Fridays.

But the group say their use of the facilities is being drastically scaled back during the six-week summer break to make way for kids’ clubs.

Kathleen Kenningham, 74, of Wibsey, said they wanted children to enjoy the centre too but they were only asking for the sports hall for one day a week.

She said: “I just can’t understand how you can move people to one side, who use the place for 48 to 50 weeks of the year.”

Sandra Phillips, 70, of Wibsey, added: “They encourage us to do all this exercise, then when it comes to things like this at summer holiday time, they seem to be pushing us into the background.”

Mrs Phillips said staff had told them that the redevelopment of the Nab Wood Sports Centre site meant Richard Dunn was having to accommodate more children’s activities this summer.

But Bradford Council said the redevelopment at Nab Wood was not affecting summer activities at Richard Dunn.

A spokesman said they had “done our best to accommodate everyone during the summer holidays and we think the majority of people who access our Toffs activities understand this”.

He said during the six-week summer break, they were providing a programme of activities for the Toffs group, including badminton, squash, swimming, the gym and table tennis.

He added: “We held a meeting with those concerned to explain the situation and we always want to listen to people accessing our services. We hope people of all ages can make the most of our full programme of activities over the next six weeks.”