FAMILIES could be priced out of Liskeard's Lux Park leisure centre and Saltash leisure centre after new operators scrapped the former family membership scheme, it was claimed this week.

Carrick Leisure, a charitable trust to whom Cornwall Council passed responsibility for its leisure facilities across the county in December, has been going through a process of 'harmonisation' in a bid to bring the charges and membership structure into line.

But some families in South East Cornwall are facing an increase of about 80 per cent in the monthly charges for using Lux Park and other facilities in the former Caradon area.

Thomas Applegate from Liskeard, along with his wife Gail and daughters Paige and Tamzyn (pictured) were all enthusiastic users of the facilities at Lux Park but say they are unlikely to renew their membership after April 1 when the new charges come in.

'We were paying £66 for family membership but we received a letter last week saying family membership is no longer available and that we will each have to pay individually, at a cost of about £120,' said Mr Applegate. 'Apparently the new charges for children include swimming lessons, but ours can already swim so we won't gain anything there.'

He added that while the new membership scheme enabled people to use any Carrick-run leisure facility in the county, for a family like his without a car and no need to travel further afield, that too was a benefit of little use.

Simon Blamey, managing director of Carrick Leisure, said it had faced a 'raft' of different pricing policies from the former district councils who ran the centres until the unitary authority was created.

The facilities formerly run by Caradon District Council had been the only ones to offer family membership and the decision had been taken to withdraw it and to offer additional benefits for individual membership, such as the children's swimming lessons referred to by Mr Applegate. 'We know there is going to be an impact on some people but it is not a large number, and we aim to continue to look at ways to improve membership and we will be actively monitoring who is using our facilities and whether they meet customers' needs,' he said.