GYM lovers in Wantage will soon be able to have their DNA examined to find out their fitness level.

Former Olympic athlete Tim Benjamin is planning to open The Fitness Space at 13 Wallingford Street next to Waitrose and says it will offer state-of-the-art technology.

High-tech gear on offer will include mobile phone apps which track body fat and BMI while there will be computers on every treadmill.

Members will also be able to get a DNA test when they join which will help their personal trainer work out the best way for them to get fit.

Mr Benjamin, who competed in the 400m relay race in the 2004 Olympics, said: "It's a 60-second swab of the mouth then two weeks later we get your results.

"That will tell us your disposition for coeliac disease and if you have sensitivity to carbohydrates and caffeine.

"It also tells us your muscle fibre make-up which tells us how you should train."

Mr Benjamin's company, The Fitness Space, already has five franchises running and is opening five more, including one in Witney.

Each gym is owned by a franchisee, and Wantage is in the hands of Mr Benjamin's London-based colleague Chana Dhaliwal.

He will hire a local manager and three other coaches.

The company hopes it could eventually have 600 members in Wantage and expects them to visit just over once a week on average.

Membership will cost between £35 and £65 per month.

Mr Benjamin, 34, who runs his own Fitness Space franchise in Ascot, said: "We are very different to any other gym.

"We're not a body-building or a meat-head gym, we don't have massive heavy weights.

"It's about whatever your goals is and you monitoring and recording yourself."

Every member at The Fitness Space will get the Technogym app for the mobile phone when they sign up.

The program connects to all the equipment they use, but can also be used to record exercise outside the gym.

It monitors Body Mass Index (BMI), body fat, overall weight, hydration and other physiological measures.

The gym will also offer hot yoga and exercise classes.

Mr Dhaliwal has applied for planning permission to open his Wantage branch at Vale of White Horse District Council.

Member of public can see the plans online at whitehorsedc.gov.uk using reference number P16/V1699/FUL.

Mr Benjamin said he was confident the gym would win permission and prove a hit in Wantage.

He added: "We're finding our model works extremely well for small market towns with fairly affluence demographic where the age range is slightly older.

"People have disposable income and want a nice, high-end facility."