Tens of thousands enjoy Horsham's first ice rink

A new winter attraction introduced in Horsham for the first time last year has celebrated a successful three months.

Tens of thousands of people have visited Horsham Ice Rink, at the Camping World site in Brighton Road, since it opened in October 2016.

Visitors enjoyed skating around the 20m by 30m rink as well as a host of fair ground rides, hot food and drinks.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Horsham Outdoor Events, which runs the attraction, said it was extremely pleased with how the new rink had been received.

South East Coast Ambulance Service said paramedics had been called to five incidents between October 21 and December 22

The first was reported in October and involved an 11-year-old girl who injured her ankle while skating. She was treated on site before being taken to hospital for further checks.

A 37-year-old man slipped and fell on the ice on November 15, injuring his hip, the ambulance service said. He was admitted to hospital after being treated at the rink.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Paramedics were called to three separate incidents in December.

On December 3 a 12-year-old boy fell while skating, injuring his ankle. He was treated on site before being taken to hospital by paramedics.

A week later a woman hit her head while skating. The 38-year-old was treated at the scene but did not require further hospital treatment.

On December 19 a 43-year-old woman was taken to hospital after falling on the ice and hurting her ankle.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Suzanne Fearn, of Horsham Outdoor Events Ltd, said: “We are extremely pleased with how the new ice rink in Horsham has performed.

“With tens of thousands of customers through our doors, we have had very few incidents where we have needed to call an ambulance.

“We have first aid trained staff on duty at all times and they are trained in how to respond to possible breakages, which thankfully have been very few.

“The very nature of this activity is never going to be 100 per cent risk free. We did have one incident where three different people called an ambulance for the same person. In the end it was called off by our staff. We feel that it is always better to err on the side of caution where our customers are concerned.”

The ice rink will run until Friday January 14.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage

2) Like our Facebook page

3) Follow us on Twitter

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

Always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.