Staff at Bradford's Alhambra are in a race against time to turn the theatre's stage into an ice rink.

The Phantom of the Opera on Ice is set to open at the theatre tonight - and the production's crew has been working through the night to make sure the rink is in perfect condition for the Russian skaters who perform the ghoulish show.

Production manager Julian Deplidge said that he had a sleepless night waiting to see if the rink had set properly.

He said: "It's always a race against time to get the ice rink ready. We started yesterday morning to get everything ready for our opening night tonight - it's hectic at the moment to say the least - but we've never missed a show!

"We're quite lucky here because the Alhambra's got a big stage and it's quite easy to get to it. Our biggest problem is usually getting the freezing machine near the stage - here it's only about 30 metres away - we usually have to go up three flights of stairs and through a window!"

Mr Deplidge said that one of the biggest problems he faced touring the country was getting enough ice to build a rink that would be acceptable to the company of international Russian skating stars.

He said: "We usually get our ice from the local fish market of docks but this time I think we're having to import about five tonnes of ice from Grimsby!

"Our Russian engineer then has to stay up all night spraying the rink with water every 20 minutes. When we're finished there will be about 14 tonnes of ice on stage.

"It all sound very technical but it's not that hard, you just need a basic knowledge of plumbing.

"Sometimes you think is it all worth it, especially when it goes wrong, but when you see the standing ovations on the opening night it gives you a great sense of achievement."

John Botteley, Alhambra general manager, said: "It's a fantastic achievement to build a high quality ice rink on a theatre stage in a day and we are blessed with one of the deepest stages in the country so it easily accommodates the rink.

"We like to set our technical crew some exciting challenges and, as usual, they've risen to the challenge and done us proud."

The Phantom Of The Opera on Ice opens today and runs until Saturday. Contact the Alhambra box-office on (01274) 752000 for more details.