A Carshalton man who was left stranded in his swimming trunks and £10,000 out of pocket after his locker was broken into has labelled his gym's attitude to security as "pathetic".

Simon Clark, a member of Virgin Active Gym in Colliers Wood, visited the club on February 1 to enjoy a session in the sauna.

But while he relaxed thieves broke into his locker and stole all his possessions, including a £2,000 watch, £200 cash and irreplaceable gifts from his nine-year-old daughter.

To make matters worse the thieves then stole Mr Clark's Vauxhall Omega estate to transport their stash. Despite his obvious frustration Mr Clark said the real sting in the tail came from the club's attitude to the incident.

"Obviously I know I am not going to get my possessions back," said the 41-year-old caterer. "But I feel at least I can warn other people.

"My concerns are simple, if they know they have a problem why weren't clients made aware?

"The situation is compounded when it appears other Virgin clubs have been targeted and no additional or obvious signs were in place to counteract the situation.

"In my opinion management have acted for the betterment of the business with a total disregard for the welfare of its clients."

A spokeswoman for Virgin Active said it was unable to comment on specifics due to a police investigation but added appropriate signs remain in the club reminding members not to leave possessions of significant value in their lockers and that internal security measures were under constant review.

She added Mr Clark had been offered two months' free membership as a gesture of good will.

But the offer has not pleased Mr Clark who claims the club made more money from the up front membership fees he believes the thieves paid to allow them access to the locker rooms.

A Wimbledon police spokeswoman confirmed five incidents of theft at the Colliers Wood gym have been reported between February 15, 2007, and February 15, 2008.