THE countdown has started for Wellness On Wheels (Wow), the pioneering new mobile gym that could change lives in the North-East.

Alarmed at high levels of obesity, heart disease and strokes, Wear Valley District Council, County Durham, decided to take radical action.

By teaming up with partners including Durham Dales Primary Care Trust and Sport England, the council has a million-pound weapon in the battle to improve fitness levels.

Bristling with the latest fitness equipment and attractions such as air conditioning, pop videos and a light show, the Wow mobile fitness centre is expected to change lives in Wear Valley.

The centre, designed to hitch up to a lorry, will be a familiar landmark in the Wear Valley for the next three years.

If it fulfills expectations, Wow trailers could be used in other health blackspots up and down the country.

The trailer does not come cheap - the cost over three years is £1.1m, paid for with the help of a £640,000 grant from Sport England and the Active England Fund.

Next Wednesday, a ceremony in Crook will formally launch the Wow concept.

Based on a mobile gym developed by Technogym and used by the Ferrari racing team, the centre packs in an incredible amount of gym equipment into a cleverly designed trailer that telescopes outwards to double the available floor space.

The next town to benefit will be Wolsingham, with the trailer based in the village for ten weeks.

Natalie Drew, Wow project manager, said: "We had only been in Crook for a day and we were full of young people wanting to look around."

Joseph Gelson, 71, a retired refuse disposal worker from Willington, who looked around the trailer with his grandson, Thomas, said: "You have to see it to believe it."

The Wow trailer will carry the slogan 'The Northern Echo: A Chance To Live' in recognition of the newspaper's campaign to improve health in the region