SLOUGH Borough Council failed to come to a decision on a temporary ice rink facility, leaving community groups more uncertain and fearful for their futures than ever before.

Despite more than seven months of ice skating groups calling for answers, cabinet members last night failed to provide a long-awaited decision on the proposal of a temporary ice rink, which would be installed from October while the current ice arena - located in Montem Lane - is refurbished over a period of nine months.

Leader of the council and chair of the committee, cllr Sohail Munawar, concluded more work needed to be done to "explore other avenues" and details around the cost of a temporary facility needed to be more specific. 

A decision has now been postponed until the next cabinet meeting in September - just weeks before the refurbishment is due to get underway.

Ricci Hodgson, founder of Special People On Ice (SPICE) - a group for disabled skaters with special needs - said: "I am frustrated and disappointed. These officers are paid employees so how can someone who's paid, spend seven-and-a-half months and still not have accurate figures?

"It's not fair that all the groups should have to live in all this uncertainty."

This lack of decision means the users - from young children to retired adults, coaches, the competitive teams and the community groups, are still in the dark about their future, either as skaters or as to whether they still have jobs.

Following an overview and scrutiny meeting on Thursday, a recommendation had been put forward to last night's committee to approve a full size temporary rink.

The figures presented to members of the potential cost ranged from £623k to £1.2 million - admittedly the "worst case scenario" according to Roger Parkin, strategic director for customer and community services, who is behind the report.

Cllr Munawar confirmed the council still planned to stick to the original time-scale and dates of the refurbishment work, which would see Slough Community Leisure hand the rink back to the council on October 31.