Some 800 members of the Riverview Racquet and Fitness Club have voted by four to one in favour of an offer by the British leisure group, David Lloyd Leisure, to buy the club.

Details of the sale were not released yesterday, but it is understood the price paid for the club, owned by the Smurfit Group and clothing firm Flairline Fashions, was £15 million (€19.05 million).

Club members will not gain financially from the deal, but they will benefit indirectly through a promised £5.5 million investment in club facilities. The formal handover of the club will take place on 31st January.

The investment plan was delivered to members at an acrimonious meeting on Tuesday night by Mr Steve Philpott, managing director of David Lloyd. He promised to develop a 25-metre swimming pool, a steam room and a sauna, to refurbish the changing rooms and to develop larger bar and restaurant facilities and a much larger gym. The inclusion of an outdoor swimming pool will be subject to planning permission. A bar licence has also yet to be granted.

Some members were not happy with the deal, as they would lose their influence in running the club. Members also effectively own the leasehold of the premises and many felt they ought to have got some return on this investment.

Mr Philpott told The Irish Times that David Lloyd Leisure had a philosophy of providing service to members through the creation of members' committees and surveys.

He added that the David Lloyd Leisure group regarded Dublin as a very exciting city in which to have a presence. There was a possibility that a city the size of Dublin could support another centre in the future, he said.

The group recently opened a centre in Belfast and is seeking planning permission for a site in Brussels.