Future of ice rinks at 'critical stage' due to soaring energy costs

Mike Ferguson said his monthly gas bill is set to rise from £2,000 to £14,500

Many of Scotland's ice rinks face closure due to crippling energy bills, a leading industry figure has warned.

Ayr Ice Rink confirmed it would shut its doors permanently in September solely due to unprecedented hikes in the cost of gas and electricity.

Scottish Ice Rink Association president Mike Ferguson said his Forfar business's monthly gas bill is set to rise from £2,000 to £14,500.

He said several Scottish ice rinks were now at "the critical stage."

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Mr Ferguson, who owns curling, bowling and ice skating facility Forfar Indoor Sports, said: "Last year was incredibly successful for our elite athletes.

"It's terrific to see medals, but they'll mean absolutely nothing if we can't keep our club curlers curling.

"If we don't have ice rinks we won't have club curlers and we won't have a sport."

Ayr Ice Rink's Andrew Kerr said the business "cannot cope" with the rising energy costs

Ayr Ice Rink has operated for almost 50 years, but under its new energy deal faces a rise in its daily bill from £419 to £880.

It would have needed to find an extra £150,000 next year to continue operating.

"That just can't be done," its managing director Andrew Kerr told BBC Scotland.

"In a normal year we just break even, but this year coming up, with a hike in energy prices, we just cannot cope with it.

"Prices will come back down, I'm sure, for energy. But they're not going to come down to the level they were."

Mr Kerr said there had been a "huge reaction" on social media to news of the closure."

Ayr Ice Rink will close a month before its 50th birthday

He said: "People are out there crying their eyes out.

"We have curlers here from aged eight to 80, and they're devastated, as are the skaters and hockey players.

"They're offering donations, but when you have to say to them it's £150,000, it's not £5,000 or £10,000, it hits home what the size of the problem is."

Ice rinks are heavily energy-intensive due to their size and use of refrigeration, lighting, and dehumidifying.

Some, like Lockerbie Ice Rink, have managed to make savings through a combination of reduced energy usage and wage bills, and successful grant applications.

Mr Ferguson said rink operators were doing what they could to cut costs such as switching off lights and having efficient insulation.

He said: "But they only scratch the surface when you're getting £150,000 to £250,000 increases in a six-month season.

"Yes, we can pass on the cost to our customers by increasing their fees, but everyone is feeling the pinch and it's literally unsustainable over the long term."

Scottish Curling's Vincent Bryson said even the thought of losing one rink was "catastrophic"

Scottish Curling said the country had "a fighting chance" of keeping all 22 of the its rinks open in 12 months' time, but at least three are currently under serious threat of closure.

Chief executive Vincent Bryson said: "Even the thought of losing one is catastrophic.

"We're going to have to find a home for the 500 curlers and 30-odd clubs in Ayr but it's not the only place the situation is dire."

He said that three rinks closing in the next year could potentially wipe out 25% of its membership.

He said: "There's no sport that could recover from that.

"Sport has got a great emotional pull for Scotland. So we don't struggle to get people to listen, but turning that into action is the great unknown.

"The conversations we've had with governments at all levels has been positive, but we understand that the government are strapped as well."

Winter Olympics silver medallist Scott Andrews started training at Ayr Ice Rink when he was eight

Winter Olympics silver medallist curler Scott Andrews said he was devastated at the pending closure of Ayr Ice Rink.

He said: "It's a massive part of the community and it's very much a social sport, so it will be a massive loss.

"I started curling here when I was eight years old and my family all curled here.

"This is where I learned how to curl and if it wasn't for Ayr Ice Rink I would never have got to the Olympics and won that Olympic medal."