A brother-and-sister ice dance pair have been tipped for stardom – after being signed up by one of the country’s premier coaches.

Eleven-year-old Jake Fearnley and his sister Jade, ten, have been talent spotted by ice dance legend Doreen Hoppe, just ten months after beginning lessons for the first time at Bradford Ice Rink.

After a tip-off from a West Yorkshire-based coach, Mrs Hoppe, who has previously worked as a judge on hit TV show Dancing On Ice, travelled to the Little Horton Lane rink to see the siblings perform.

And after witnessing the pair’s silky smooth skills, she decided to take them on.

Now, accompanied by proud mum Debbie, the pair rise in the early hours every Saturday to travel to London to spend the weekend working with choreographer Mrs Hoppe and fellow ice coach Lasantha Salpadoru.

Mrs Hoppe said: “A friend of mine who is a coach in Bradford told me about them and asked me to take a look at them. I went to Bradford one Sunday morning and saw them. I thought they could go places one day. They have great potential.”

Mrs Hoppe said the pair already shared a vital ingredient needed to achieve success in the world of ice dance – a hunger for the sport. She said: “Reaching a high standard takes a long time. But Jake and Jade have a real passion and hunger which is unusual at their age.

“I have been teaching for 30 years and the passion and dedication they have is something special.

“And the dedication there is not just from the kids. Mum’s dedication is very impressive too.”

Proud mum Debbie, of Torre Crescent, Horton Bank Top, said the pair had started lessons in Bradford after Jake, a pupil at Holme Farm Primary, had expressed an interest in playing ice hockey. She said: “He found he enjoyed it and his sister also had lessons too. The coach asked if he could put them together and it has snowballed from there.”

The pair, who have been travelling to London each weekend for the past two months, also spend around 12 hours on the ice in Bradford during the week. And despite their relative inexperience, they have recently put the finishing touches to their first dance – a 90-second routine based around music from the hit musical Grease.

“They now live for the ice and want to make it to the top, and I know they will do it,” said Mrs Fearnley. “They are completely committed to it.”

Jake said: “Ice skating’s the best, it’s my life. I could only skate at the beginning and now I can spin round on one foot on the outside edge of my skates.”

Jade said: “It’s fun. The best thing is doing it with Jake and putting routines together. It’s exciting.”