AN AMERICAN ice skater pirouetted his way into the British skating team with the help of an English rose!

Andres Lopez, 21, from San Jose, California, became one of a select few to join the British national team after perfecting his routine at Blackburn's Ice Arena on Grimshaw Park.

Partnered by Chester's high flying gem Kerry Jones, 23, Andres received the thumbs up from judges during his silver qualification test - making the pair eligible for the national team. "Everything went to plan and we skated really well," said Andres.

Andres and Kerry flew back to their coaching base in Seattle on Monday where they will team up with Blackburn coach and former British Champion, Sharon Jones.

The five times national champion is based at the Ice Arena and has taken over the pair's coaching.

"They skated really well and I think they can go far but it's going to take a few years," said Sharon. "They're very well suited and it's quite a novelty teaching an American. Andres speaks a different language sometimes on the rink but his skating has a lot of potential."

And there was also good news for local partners Chris Lomax from Darwen and Great Harwood's Amanda Galloway. Despite skating with a broken arm, 16-year-old Chris helped Amanda, 14, to pass her silver test.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.