CURLERS claim they were given the brush-off after being denied access to the ice without notice.

Clubs were left unhappy after they found out through a 'chance conversation' that they would be unable to use the ice rink at the Waterfront Leisure Centre due to a public holiday.

Some curlers had cut holidays short to come back and play on October 18, only to discover that they were frozen out in favour of ice skating sessions.

They criticised Inverclyde Leisure's communication and said that the failure to inform them about the ice rink's unavailability 'reinforces a perceived attitude' that it doesn't regard curling as one of its core services.

Bosses at IL have now apologised to clubs over the delayed return.

A spokesperson said: "Inverclyde Leisure are delighted to announce that our ice rink at the Waterfront Leisure Centre reopened on October 15 for the remainder of the school holiday period.

"IL employees have been working extremely hard behind the scenes to get the ice reopened for our regular skaters, curlers and ice hockey customers.

"The school holiday on Monday October 18 unfortunately delayed the return to curling until Tuesday October 19, as public skating was programmed to ensure schoolchildren had a chance to enjoy the ice.

"Inverclyde Leisure apologise to curling clubs that were inconvenienced for the one day delay.

"We will continue to work with our partners, clubs and customers to develop and increase participation levels in all aspects of the ice rink to bring the levels back to pre-Covid usage.

"This will involve working closely with coaches and scheduling free 'come and try' curling and skating sessions to re-engage our customers to get active."