AN Ayr junior ice hockey club is urging action to save the sportin its historical home.

Ayr Bruins is appealing to the public to show their support for calls to build a new ice rink for the town.

Ayr has a rich ice hockey her itage being once renowned for its teams and figure skaters, but Alex Strachan,the Bruins’ vice chairman, says the sport’s future in town is at stake.

He told the Advertiser: “We just want someone to stand up, take notice, and say ‘lets not let this happen, lets deal with it now before it’s too late’.

“The Ayr Ice Rink can’t be used for players over 15-years-old because of the angle and the lack of plexiglass.

“So, players leave us to go to Auchenharvie or Kilmarnock for future development.

“They’re leaving us, so we’re losing players and money to these areas.

“I foresee, in five years we de c ide we can’t continue and then someone will say there’s no ice hockey in Ayr.”

Mr Strachan wants to see a new rink that won’t be just for ice hockey but also figure skating and curling.

He believes that having a proper ice sports facility will enable Ayr to attract adult teams, national hockey league games, internationals for under20s and woman’s hockey which all currently use the rink in Dumfries.

Mr Strachan said: “If something isn’t done I’ll be devastated. Not just for my son but for the club as a whole and for the whole town of Ayr because it’s genuinely the last echelon of ice hockey in town.”

Ayr Bruins has an academy which runs a 16-week training programme that gets players up to speed with the game.

It’s every Friday from 5.30pm til 6.30pm and a new block starts at the end of February.

You can sign the petition by searching for Ayr Bruins at change.org