Phone rescued from ice rink after two-month freeze

Steve Hubbard/BBC Bright pink phone case in ice. Standing next to it are the boots of two ice skaters. One set of white skates, to the left, and one set of black skates, to the right.Steve Hubbard/BBC
The sheepish workman said to "everyone's astonishment" the iPhone still worked

An phone accidentally frozen in an ice rink has been returned to its owner after surviving a chilly eight weeks below the surface.

The bright pink device was entombed in an icy grave at Willen Lake, Milton Keynes, after 60,000 litres (13,000 gallons) of water was poured over it in November.

It belonged to the daughter of a workman building the rink, who said she was "over the moon" to have her phone back.

The red-faced dad said to "everyone's astonishment" the device was still fully operational, if not a little cold.

The iPhone had been mistakenly left on the rink's metal framework before being encased in two inches of ice and skated over thousands of times.

Workers finally retrieved it and were amazed when, against all odds, it switched back on.

Destination MK An ice rink worker with long brown hair and glasses holds the pink iPhone next to the rink. He is wearing a black jumper and blue hi-vis jacket.Destination MK
Staff were previously unable to retrieve the phone for fear of damaging the structure of the ice

"My daughter was over the moon when I handed her phone back in full working order," said the relieved father, who remained anonymous.

"I'd promised to replace it if it didn't survive, but I honestly didn't expect this outcome.

"It's a Christmas miracle – or maybe just incredible engineering."

The story of the frozen phone was reported by news outlets across the world and viewed more than 10 million times on TikTok.

Rob Cook, director at Ice Leisure, said: "We've seen laughter, celebrations and now an ice-entombed phone make a full comeback.

"We're thrilled for the family – and perhaps a little surprised ourselves."

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.