Freedom Leisure will be the new provider for the leisure and cultural facilities in the Cotswolds.

This includes three leisure centres and the Corinium Museum & Resource Centre.

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, cabinet member for health, leisure and culture, said: "After a very thorough procurement process we are pleased to say Freedom Leisure will be the new provider for our leisure centres and the Corinium Museum.

"The health and wellbeing of our residents is a top priority so it was important to make sure we picked the best operator for our leisure and cultural services. We are very much looking forward to working with Freedom Leisure.

"Cotswold District Council have worked hard over the past few years to invest in our leisure centres. This has included upgrading all the gym equipment last year, along with installing energy saving equipment which has reduced the council's carbon footprint by 30% and made the centres more efficient to run.

"As part of this new contract with Freedom Leisure we will be investing a further £1.2m to improve the leisure centres in Cirencester and Bourton for residents."

The council's current leisure and culture providers are SLM Everyone Active. Freedom Leisure will be taking over from SLM Everyone Active on Tuesday 1 August.

Disruption will be kept to a minimum whilst this transition takes place.

If you are already a member of the leisure centres, your details will be provided to Freedom Leisure as part of the transfer process so you will continue to be able to access all the facilities included in your membership.

All lessons and classes will carry on running as usual.

Ivan Horsfall Turner, Freedom Leisure CEO, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded both the leisure and cultural contracts and are excited to get started in the Cotswolds. Our vision is to 'improve lives through leisure' and we very much look forward to working with our new colleagues at these vitally important local amenities.

"We have committed to a number of projects which we believe will not only improve the facilities and services on offer but also have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of the local community."

Freedom Leisure is one of the UK's leading charitable and not-for-profit leisure trusts that manages over 100 leisure and cultural facilities on behalf of client partners across England and Wales.