Cancel gym membership before contract expires

Doorstep_2

Hello,

Sorry I wasn't sure of the best place to post this but hope someone can give me advice.

My wife and I joined a gym back in around May 2006 and signed up for 12 months. It does stipulate that you must sign up for 12 months but says there are exceptions say for example if you moved where you were not within 10 miles radius of their nearest gym.

We have not been able to visit the gym for a couple of months now as I rely on my wife to transport me there and back as she uses our only car and we are about 9 or so miles away from the nearest gym. Whilst I could say use a bus or train to get to the gym this would work out expensive very quickly as the train for example is £3.50 return per day. I signed up on the basis I could get there and back in our car as alternative methods are too expensive.

My wife's hours at work changed so if we carried on visiting the gym we would get there late in the day (8pm if lucky) and would not be able to have a proper meal or do anything else in the evenings. I tried to cancel on this basis but was told no as this explanation for cancelling is not covered/stipulated in their terms. They say if I cancel before the 12 months then I must pay the remaining months otherwise they will pass the debt to a collection agency that will pursue me and my wife for the owed amount.

I am therefore wondering if anyone can advise on this issue please. Can I just cancel a 12 month contract without explanation? Am I within my rights to cancel due to my explanation above? The only thing I am mindful of when using my reasoning is that we do not know if my wife's employers would co-operate with explaining on the change of hours.

Any advice here is much appreciated.

Doorstep_2

I've moved this to the consumer board so please don't reply here. Sorry for any confusion but still getting used to the forum!