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Bury St Edmunds synthetic ice rink opens at shopping centre

Luke Deal/BBC Bury St Edmund's Mayor Diane Hind on the ice rinkLuke Deal/BBC
The ice rink in Bury St Edmunds has capacity for up to 25 people

A synthetic ice rink has opened in a Suffolk town as part of a collaboration between three organisations.

Located at Charter Square in Bury St Edmunds, the rink has a capacity of up to 25 people and is free to use.

It was organised by Our Bury St Edmunds BID, the arc Shopping Centre and Bury St Edmunds Town Council.

Chief executive of Our Bury St Edmunds Mark Cordell said: "I hope it's going to bring a lot of people into town. Use the rink as many times as you want!"

Luke Deal/BBC Public using the ice skating rinkLuke Deal/BBC
The ice skating rink is free to use and booking is not required

The synthetic rink aims to provide people with the "closest possible experience to real ice, without the environment impact and high energy use of keeping the rink frozen".

Bury St Edmunds Town Council's Labour mayor Diane Hind said: "It's nice that this event in particular is free because it means everybody can partake at a particularly troublesome time of year with the cost of living crisis."

The rink will be open until 3 January 2024, with skates and skate-aids available for all participants free of charge.

In lieu of a booking fee, the shopping centre hoped visitors would donate to the arc's charity of the year, Gatehouse, which works with vulnerable people throughout East Anglia.

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