EQUAL access to health and fitness is the aim of a pioneering scheme launched in Bury.

Disabled people can take advantage of new equipment installed at the Castle leisure centre.

Castle is one of only 30 council-run centres in the country to take part in the £1.3 million Lottery-funded Inclusive Fitness Initiative, run by the English Federation of Disability Sport.

Pictured at the scheme's launch are (back, from left) Colin Chaytors, chief executive of English Federation for Disability in Sport; the mayor and mayoress, Councillors John and Stella Smith; Graham Atkinson, council leisure services officer; Sheldon Phillips, regional director Sport England.

The Initiative has already brought in £34,000 to buy "accredited" specialist equipment, while nearly 50 staff at the centre are having disability awareness training.

Councillor Gill Campbell, executive member for community development, said: "A great deal of progress has been made over the past ten years to promote disabled people's access to sport, but there is still much to do.

"Barriers remain, and while some disabled people are physically very active, the majority still find obstacles to their participation in exercise, or are not aware of the opportunities available to them.

"Hopefully this initiative will help to change that. We are part of a national pilot programme and the successes we achieve here will eventually be copied across the country."

The new equipment will be complemented by better signs, aids such as hearing loops, and better links between a range of clubs.

Ms Yvonne Hall, disability sports co-ordinator, added: "People of all ages and with varying degrees of disability will be able to train and take part in a widening range of sport and fitness events.

"Castle leisure centre has been a focal point for many events involving disabled people in the past and it is fitting that it should be at the forefront of this initiative which will have a long-term impact, both regionally and nationally."