TWO top professional skaters came to York to officially open this year's Ice Factor skating rink.

The ice rink, which is in its third year now, was opened yesterday to people who have helped with its installation as well as sponsors, and it was open to the general public from today. But their efforts are unlikely to be as polished as those of top professional ice skaters Alexei Kislitsyn and Natalia Pestova - the latter has also appeared on television's Dancing On Ice.

The pair usually appear with the Imperial Ice Stars, who are currently on a world tour performing Swan Lake on ice, but yesterday entertained invited guests and members of the public.

The ice rink is set on the Eye of York against the backdrop of Clifford's Tower and took around a fortnight to install. It is now open until January 6 with the first skating session taking place at 10am and the last at 8.30pm.

Over the next 48 hours approximately 80,000 litres of water will be turned into ice on the site, all at a working temperature of minus 15 degrees.