A FIGHTING fit pensioner got a birthday surprise when members of his local gym honoured him with a birthday cake.

The remarkable Reg Ball spent an hour on his 90th birthday at the Aspects of Fitness gym, at Scrapps Hill Farm, Worting – just as he has done twice a week for the past 17 years.

And as the pensioner finished his workout, staff and friends at the Basingstoke gym crowded round to present him with a birthday cake.

Reg, of Kempshott Lane, Kempshott, Basingstoke, said: “I was very surprised – I had just turned up as normal and they came out with a birthday cake.”

The nonagenarian first joined the gym 17 years ago following a recommendation by doctors after he suffered a heart attack.

He told The Gazette: “I have always enjoyed it. Once you start doing it, you want to do more. The benefit is that it gets you out of the armchair. But you have got to be motivated and do it through the winter months as well.”

Gym owner Bryan Ironside said: “It was a complete surprise and when we presented the cake he was in complete shock.

“Reg comes here at least twice a week and is very active. He will go rowing, be on the bike and do a number of weights for around an hour. Obviously, it’s at his own pace but he still does everything.”