Freddie Cougar, Keighley Cougar's furry mascot, has put the finishing touches to his intensive six-week fitness campaign.

He pounded the treadmill at the Fitness First gymnasium on Worthway in readiness for his final medical check.

Last November when Cougars' Head Coach Barry Eaton returned from watching the Rugby League World Cup in Australia he found that the Cougar mascot had been neglecting his diet and dropped out of training.

The super Cougar had piled on the kilogrammes . Eaton laid down the law to Freddie: "Get that weight off and fit again….or you're sacked!"

And Freddie took the warning seriously and set about trying to save his job. First, he took advice of the Primary Care Trust's Healthy eating literature and made sure he cut down on the fatty foods as well as ensuring that he ate his five pieces of fruit and vegetables each day.

Then Freddie went to work on the intensive fitness programme given to him by Eaton.

He pounded the streets of Keighley being supported by the motorists and fans as he sweated and puffed his way along the route.

And, as his fitness levels rose, he took on a series of challenges. He pulled the club's Sunwin-sponsored Nissan Qashqai across the Cougar Park; then he went down to Cross Hills to help Joda Freight pull a lorry and, finally, he got a Northern Rail train rolling along at Huddersfield Station.

This week he went to Holycroft Surgery on Oakworth Road for his final check up.

Freddie said: “If you haven't trained for a while it pays to take medical advice. Holycroft Surgery's staff has been fantastic and has given me sensible advice.

“Now I feel so much better and, hopefully, when I have my final fitness test just before Sunday's Northern Rail Cup match against Hunslet Hawks at Cougar Park, I'll have impressed Barry enough to keep my job as mascot.”

Freddie's partner in his fitness campaign has been the Keighley News. The town's newspaper has been following Freddie's progress every inch of the way on their website keighleynews.co.uk.

Freddie's campaign has also generated its own website (www.freddiegetsfit.co.uk);