Surfing lake to reopen after sudden closure

An inland surfing lake is set to reopen after suddenly closing its doors and being sold to new owners.

The Wave, on the northern edge of Bristol, shut with immediate effect on Thursday and was placed into technical insolvency. It was announced on Friday evening that the site had been sold to another company, with the hope of reopening on Saturday - though this failed to happen.

On Monday evening it was confirmed on social media that surfers would be allowed to return on Tuesday.

A spokesperson said: "We are so excited to let you all know that we will be reopening our doors. We want to thank all our wonderful community for the outpouring of love and support over the last days."

In a statement posted online, The Wave confirmed that the facility would open at 06:30 BST "with all wave sessions [to] run as scheduled".

The reopening also means that the English Para Surfing Open competition will be able to go ahead as planning on 2-3 July, the company said.

About 200 staff had been left with cancelled bookings and an uncertain future after the sudden closure of the site.

The complex, which opened in 2019, cost £26m to build and can generate up to 1,000 waves an hour of different intensity.

When The Wave closed on Thursday, then-CEO Hazel Geary said the decision had "not been driven by operational failure or lack of customer demand - but for a financial technicality completely unrelated to commercial matters".

Julian Topham, who founded and runs Boardmasters surf festival, is now running the site during a "transition period".

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