They say lightning never strikes in the same place twice but for one unlucky couple the old adage seems to be far from the truth.

Fitness fanatics Joanne and Larry Whiteley are both in casts after injuring a leg each in separate incidents.

Larry, 46, fractured his tibia in five places after falling off his bike as he was about to set off for home following a session at the Fitness First Keighley gym in December.

At first, the family managed to cope with looking after Larry, but this was made much more difficult when his wife, Joanne, 47, severed her Achilles tendon while circuit training at the same gym in the middle of January.

Larry, a glass-machine operator, said "You have to do everything on your backside now.

"My wife has to have her pot on for another ten weeks but after that they said she could have to have another operation - it's normally a year's healing for her leg.

"Mine could be a six-month job before I can even take the pot off."

Larry also managed to break his thumb in two places when he came off his bike just as he was pulling out of the gym's car park, in Worth Way, on December 20.

He said: "I stopped to look right but on the road there was oil or something.

"I set off and went into my turn and my back wheel went from under me. "I probably wasn't even doing 4mph because I had only just started.

"I fell on my front and the back spun round on the stuff on the road and my leg ended up trapped under the bike as it fell on it.

"The first aiders were absolutely superb."

The couple, from Cottingley, became interested in keeping fit a year ago and visit the gym up to seven times a week.

Joanne, a telephone administrator in Cullingworth, said: "Just the way it has happened is unbelievable, both at the same time and the same place.

"We are both just hopping about everywhere but it does make it quite difficult with everything.

"We haven't had any help, social services said it would cost us to get help and we can't afford that as now neither of us are able to work.

"I have to keep laughing though, because if I don't I will just cry."

Elain Charnock, member service manager at the Keighley gym, said: "Fitness First is sorry not to have Joanne and Larry Whiteley in the club at the moment and we wish them a very speedy recovery.

"All Fitness First staff are given basic first aid training and there are two people on the gym floor at any time who are qualified first aiders.

"We were glad to be able to help out on this occasion."