After reading Brighton Marina's advertisement announcing its Christmas line-up (The Argus, November 8), I took my daughter and her friend to the ice-skating rink.

I paid £4.50 for each child to skate for one hour. This did not include looking after the children's shoes, which I had to do myself.

Off we went to the big blue tent, looking forward to an hour's skating. This "ice rink" is not ice but some kind of plastic or fibreglass surface. The children found it impossible to skate on and stayed for no more than 10 minutes. The many other parents and myself at the rink observed children falling over because of the badly constructed surface. The unevenness was clearly evident. It would be interesting to view the health and safety and risk assessment certificates of this construction.

I understand from The Argus that the rink belongs to Olympic champion skater Robin Cousins, a magnificent skater, whose skills are far greater than the average 10-year-old.

While I applaud the Marina for attempting to make it a worthwhile place to visit, this isn't the way. If the "ice rink" had been what it has been promoted to be, I would most likely have taken my daughter and her friends there every week as a lead-up to Christmas treat.

I also noted that the boat ride to post a letter to Santa was astronomically priced. When will businesses learn that value for money results in happy and satisfied customers, who will return again and again?

-Linda Lewyckyj, Arundel Place, Brighton