SOUTHAMPTON may have lost its latest bid to gain an ice rink but a nearby village has acquired the next best thing.

Marchwood Sports and Social Club has hired a synthetic rink for the next two months.

Made of the same material as plastic chopping boards, the rink has been installed in a hall normally used for dances and parties. The club, just inside the entrance to Marchwood Industrial Park, intends to open the facility from 10am until 10pm every day.

Members are hoping that the 150 square metre rink will attract a large number of children over the Easter holidays.

A club spokesman said: "Southampton keeps asking for an ice rink but nothing ever materialises so we decided to put one in here.

"We wanted to do something for the kids of Marchwood."

Southampton's latest bid to acquire an ice rink collapsed last October, when the city council ditched the West Quay 3 scheme.