THE number of people joining council-owned fitness facilities in Scotland has increased by more than a third since the 2014 Common-wealth Games, according to figures gathered by the SNP. Membership figures for the past decade from 22 out of 32 of Scotland’s local authorities have been collated.

The majority of councils have experienced significant increases in membership or attendances during the 10-year period. The data, collected through Freedom of Information requests, shows an overall 36 per cent increase in last three years.

Glasgow has recorded a 13.7 per cent rise in memberships since 2014, and in Edinburgh the figure is up 10.1 per cent. In other places numbers have soared — 90.5 per cent in Aberdeen, 137 per cent in Orkney, and around 70 per cent in Dumfries and Galloway and West Dunbartonshire.

SNP MSP Ivan McKee said: “It is fantastic that not only has Glasgow Life seen a 14 per cent increase since the Commonwealth Games, but that this positive pattern of growth has been repeated across the country.”