BOSSES at Stratford Park Leisure Centre are bringing in rigorous new checks to improve standards at the facility after readers sent a series of letters of complaint to the SNJ.

Staff are striving for the Quest Quality Award, a prestigious endorsement which is only granted to leisure centres which measure up to tough criteria, and have brought in new procedures to improve customer satisfaction.

These include a notice board in the front foyer where customer comments, and the manager's response to them, are displayed so the writers can see what is being done to address their concerns.

The centre will be inspected for the award this week and will be reassessed periodically if it passes to ensure standards are maintained.

"Hopefully through external accreditation and inspection we will demonstrate that this is a quality company and gain credibility that this is a good site," said general manager Andrew Bunn.

"We have done a lot of work to get the site up to standard. We accept that things aren't perfect but we are trying to put systems in place to make them better for the public."

And he said some criticisms from SNJ readers were valid but that leisure centre staff were not at fault for others, such as keeping fire doors shut, which is a legal requirement for health and safety reasons and a necessary security measure.

He added that Parkwood Leisure, the company that manages the centre on behalf of Stroud District Council, invests heavily in the Stroud site, which is actually running at a loss.

Though the council owns the building, Parkwood Leisure is a private company which manages it.

Mr Bunn urged any dissatisfied customers to get in touch with him so he can resolve their complaints or join the centre's user forum, where they can meet regularly with senior members of staff to discuss concerns.