ROYSTON residents could be getting their skates on this Christmas if a temporary ice rink opens for business.

Sponsorship is needed for the ice rink, which would open for two days to coincide with the town’s Christmas Fayre in December.

Royston Means Business, the retailers’ association which launched last year to breathe new life into the High Street, is behind the scheme.

Lisa Thompson, from Royston Means Business, said: “We came up with the idea because we thought it was something people would like, and we put it out on Facebook to gage opinion and there was a lot of support. Now we’re doing everything we can to get it up and running.

“At the moment we’re looking at doing it for the weekend of the Christmas Fayre, and it would be set up in the car park of the Old Bull Inn. We’ve already spoken to the owners and got their permission to put it there.”

The cost of the ice rink would be between £2,000-£4,000, and Mrs Thompson said sponsors are being sought to cover this.

“We would need sponsors, so if any local businesses out there would like to support what we’re doing we’d love to hear from them,” she said.

A temporary ice rink is set up in Cambridge every Christmas on Parker’s Piece, and Mrs Thompson added that if successful, Royston’s own ice rink could become a regular feature in the run-up to Christmas.

She said: “We want to do something a bit different, so hopefully we can get it up and running this year and see where it goes from there.”

Royston Means Business also continues to work on the possibility of opening a pop-up town shop in the High Street, which could be used by small and start-up retailers on short-term lets to test out their businesses.

For more information on the group’s work. visit www.facebook.com/roystonmeansbusiness.