Surf's up! The Wave reopens amid increasingly bitter ownership row

BRISTOL'S inland surfing lake The Wave has reopened, with its new boss describing its staff as 'incredible' for getting the facility up and running again.

- Tristan CORK

The Wave closed suddenly on Thursday after the company that ran it went into liquidation, but has been sold amid an increasingly bitter dispute among its shareholder companies.

Staff were told on Monday the facility on the edge of Bristol would reopen at 6.30am yesterday.

The first major event to take place at The Wave will be the English Para Surfing Open competition, a two-day national event which begins today. The event had been in doubt when The Wave closed suddenly, with staff told to stay at home and given no confirmation when it would reopen.

But that reopening has come sooner rather than later, with the new interim chief executive Julian Topham thanking The Wave's 'community' for their support. "Our incredible Wavemaker team has pulled together as always and been working flat out to get everything back up and running, and to be able to deliver surfs that have been booked," he said.

"We are beyond excited that we will have waves rolling and people enjoying them again. We want to thank all our wonderful community for the outpouring of love and support over the last few days. It means so much," he added.

"This also means that the eagerly anticipated English Para Surfing Open competition will be able to take place as planned on July 2 and 3 - and we can't think of a better way to mark opening our doors again," he said.