BOLTON's first indoor ice rink has been a huge success, with hundreds of people queuing up to get their skates on over the weekend.

Staff at Icecapades said more than 700 boys, girls, men and women passed through its doors on Saturday to have a spin in the new attraction.

The rink, the first of its kind in the country, was also busy on Sunday with queues of people forming outside.

Town centre manager Karen Wheeldon, who is behind bringing the attraction to the town, said the first weekend had been very successful.

She added: "The ice rink has been exceptionally busy all the time and the staff there have been rushed off their feet.

"The numbers seem to be spread out throughout the day, with it getting busy from late morning through to the early evening."

She said some people were having to queue for a while because the £3 entrance fee was for a one hour session and there should not be too many people on the ice.

But one young mother who took her three-year-old daughter to the attraction is angry she had to wait four and a half hours.

Nicola Guffogg is annoyed she was wrongly told she could not pre-book a session in the Icecapades attraction and was repeatedly turned away.

Organisers have made it clear that people can pre-pay for a spin on the ice and said the problem was down to a misunderstanding among staff.

Nicola, 19, of St Thomas Street, Halliwell, set off for the town centre at 12.30pm on Sunday with her brother Luke and daughter, Lea, but she did not get on the ice until 5.30pm.

Town centre manager Karen apologised for the inconvenience caused to Nicola.

She added: "One session was block booked several weeks ago and people were told they could not pre-pay for that session.

"But we are letting people book in advance at other times because we want everyone who comes into the town centre to get the opportunity to ice-skate. These are just teething problems we have now sorted out."

The rink uses real ice and will be the only one in the United Kingdom until London opens its own this week.

The temporary building is in Victoria Square, between the town hall and the war memorial.

The fun on the ice continues until January 4. Icecapades is open from 10am until 9.30pm everyday, except bank holidays. Music is played throughout the day and disco lights are turned on at night. There is also a Saturday Night Fever disco night every Saturday evening.

Refreshments are on sale inside the ice rink and there is a viewing area and first aid post. Skate hire is included in the admission fee.