The Eastgate centre now has a 21m by 10m rink set up on one of the bowling areas in front of the Arena cafe.

Pupils from St Augustine’s Junior School, on Longfellow Drive, became the first to ‘test skate’ the rink.

Year 6 teacher Chris Kelley, who is also the school football coach, said the kids were picked for the ice-skating treat as they won the Parry Cup – a football competition between primary schools in Bassetlaw.

“It’s really good to see something for the everyone in Bassetlaw. It’s something different and I think it’s going to prove very popular,” he said.

“Before now, you would have to drive an hour to Doncaster and back to go skating.”

The St Augustine’s football stars gave the rink a definite thumbs up and seemed to pick up on skating technique very quickly.

“It’s fantastic. I’ll definitely come back here all the time,” said Daniel Lloyd, 11.

Cole Blair, 10, was also having a great time on the ice, saying: “I’m really enjoying it. It’s great fun.”

Thomas Rix, 11, said the synthetic ice was a lot like normal ice and he hardly noticed the difference.

“I’m sliding around a bit and finding it really good fun. It’s really good entertainment,” he said.

Arena manager Nigel Turner is overjoyed to see the rink up and running and hopes it will bring more people to the Arena.

“I’m absolutely delighted. I really hope it’s going to make a big difference to the place. If it is as successful as we’re hoping it will be, then we could keep it here until September,” he said. “It’s open to people of all ages and everyone is welcome to come along and give it a try.”

The mobile rink was set up in just a few days by Barnsley-based company, Get Ya Skates On.

Company director Phil Gough said: “We’re really pleased to see the rink up and we’re hoping it’ll bring a lot of people to the Arena who hadn’t set foot in the building before.”

“We’ve seen people who began skating on rinks like this one for fun and are now professionals.”

Prices for a 45 minute session are £3.50 for adults and £2.50 for under-16s, plus 50 pence skate hire.

The rink will be open to the public Monday to Friday from 4-9pm and on weekends and bank holidays from 9am-6pm.

The rink is also available for schools, groups and special bookings.

For more information call the North Notts Arena on 01909 480164.