I WENT to cancel my gym membership with LiveWire last week and was shocked to find what they had in their small print.

Like a lot of people the rising cost of living has forced me to make several cutbacks on my expenses, my thermostat has been turned off for two months to try to save money.

One place I saw myself able to direct funds to bills and council tax I am struggling to pay was the gym, and tried to call them.

I had to try four different branches to get through to someone only to be told they only accept cancellations in person.

Upon telling them I can’t get there they mysteriously had an email option.

The email featured a warning, paraphrased; ‘Our terms and conditions stipulate a direct debit collection for a full month is made after cancellation, this is legally agreed by proof of digital signature, created by ticking agree to terms and conditions upon signing up. In the event the direct debit is cancelled, the debt will be passed to a debt collection agency’.

Basically because I ticked ‘I agree to the terms and conditions’, they are allowed to force me to pay for an extra month I neither want and can’t afford.

I may be alone in this but this is a weird red flag to have in a cancellation email, a red flag that suggests they’re aware of how absurd and immoral this behaviour is.

I think LiveWire should do more to help people clearly struggling with the rising cost of living, and people should be aware if they want to save money on their bills they’ll have to cancel their membership two months in advance.

JAKE WILD Warrington