IN A bizarre turn of events, the contractor of Slough's temporary ice rink announced that the facility would open tonight - before delaying it once again.

The stop-gap rink was promised for mid-November last year following the closure of Slough Ice Arena for a £7.7m refurbishment on October 22.

The controversial temporary construction saw its opening date pushed back to December 17 and back again to February following a series of delays and a contract dispute with the provider, the Ice Rink Company.

However, despite no word from the council, the provider themselves announced the opening on Twitter on Friday, February 3.

SilverBlades Slough, a subsidiary of the Ice Rink Company, tweeted: “OPENING DATE – We’re delighted to announce that @Slough_Rink will open to the public NEXT Friday, February 10 at 6pm! #IceFunReturns.”

However, just hours before the grand opening of the long-awaited ice today, SilverBlades Slough tweeted that the rink would in fact not be opening, citing "a small delay".

The tweet read: "OPENING DATE - Due to a small delay we're no longer opening tonight! A new launch date will be released soon! "

A workman at the site in Montem Lane, Slough, said it would be ready "next week".

The arena refurbishment of the Slough Ice Arena should be completed by December this year.