CrossFit gym is accused of making neighbors’ lives hell for blaring loud exercise music… but owner insists it’s within legal limits – so who DO YOU think is wrong?

A Crossfit gym has come under fire from angry neighbors who say the loud music fitness fanatics train to is making their lives hell.

Gritstone CrossFit in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, has been praised for the volume of tunes put out during group fitness sessions.

Locals living opposite the complex say the sound of the pounding practice beats pushed them to their limits, with one saying they were ‘having a breakdown’.

But the gym has insisted its workout music is well within limits set by environmental health officials – and its boss has instead claimed he was the target of a campaign of continued harassment by some locals.

Meanwhile, council officers who visited the site at least twice to investigate noise levels found that ‘no statutory nuisance has ever been observed’ and concluded the gym’s impact on neighbors was ‘marginal’.

Gritstone CrossFit in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, has been criticized for the volume of tunes broadcast during group fitness sessions

But council officials said the impact of the gym’s noise on locals would have been ‘marginal’. In the photo, members of the gym are working out while loud music plays

In the photo you see the gym, which recently successfully applied for an extension of its opening hours

The fitness center is located opposite a row of houses on the other side of a busy A-road

“The dominant noise source appeared to be from traffic along Mossley Road,” a report concluded.

However, one angry resident told MailOnline: ‘This CrossFit gym has been causing problems for ten years with no respect for anyone who wants to live in peace.

‘It has ruined my life because now I can’t even leave my own house because I’ve lived here for more than 25 years and shouldn’t have to put up with this.

‘I feel like a prisoner in my own home. I can’t go to the front of my house because it’s so loud. I even considered suicide.’

The 35-year-old added: ‘I’m an emotional wreck over this. I haven’t been able to hold down a job for the past five years. I think I have PTSD.”

Video footage seen by MailOnline shows a large number of fitness enthusiasts attending group sessions outside the gym, which is opposite a quiet residential area.

Music plays from the gym as customers work out on various fitness equipment within it.

The resident added that the noise from the fitness center was now impacting their mental health, making them feel like a prisoner in their own home.

‘Ten years ago I was a different person where I could actively go out and do things I enjoyed, I was even a member of a gym,’ they told MailOnline.

‘Over a year ago, before I quit because of this problem and my mental health deteriorated, I would just break down when I went to the gym.’

However, the gym’s owner has hit back, insisting he has been the victim of a campaign of intimidation by some locals, which police are now investigating.

Richard Hill, who runs Gritstone CrossFit, said the gym had been inspected by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council environmental health officers and the music in the center was well within legal limits.

The photo shows gym members gathering outside for a group workout

“We are fully compliant with all regulations set by the council, who have come twice and given us the green light,” Mr Hill told MailOnline, declining to comment further.

Last year, the gym successfully submitted an application to the municipality to extend its opening hours.

In planning documents seen by MailOnline, only one person complained about noise pollution.

The report concluded: ‘The council’s Environmental Services (Public Protection) Department has investigated numerous complaints regarding noise pollution caused by the operation of this gymnasium and no statutory nuisance has ever been observed by the various investigating officers.

‘The dominant noise source appeared to be from traffic along Mossley Road.’

It said the noise from the gym was no higher than “ambient noise generated by traffic.”

It added: ‘The impact of the proposed extended opening hours on the general character of the area, which is within an enclave of commercial use along a busy main road, would therefore be marginal.’

MailOnline approached Greater Manchester Police for comment.