A CORE part of the Barrow community is under threat of filing for insolvency due to the effects of lockdown.

Urban Extreme Indoor Skatepark, Barrow, has served enthusiasts of all ages for the last six years.

But now, due to the huge financial pressures upon the charity-run skatepark, it may be forced into insolvency.

Jane Keith, owner of Urban Extreme Indoor Skatepark, said: “For eight weeks now we have had no income or support from the government or local authority.”

The skatepark has been unable to apply for help using the Business Grant Funds Scheme, due to its rateable value (RV).

RV represents a property’s rental value if it was to be let.

The RV of the indoor skatepark is £52,000, laying just outside of the £15-51,000 boundary to qualify for a £25,000 grant.

A new top-up to the scheme for small local businesses who have previously fallen through the cracks has now come to light, but despite the fund being aimed for those with ongoing fixed property-related costs, owner Jane says she is still unable to access it.

She said: “It’s very stressful and has been going on too long.

“We only have money until the end of May.

“Any surplus money that we had has been used to pay the bills.

“We are in a right mess - it’s so unfortunate.

“We have staff furloughed, but in time, even if we opened our outdoor pump track in some capacity, we would still run at a loss.

“We can’t charge a lot for people to use the outdoor area when they could use Barrow Park for free.

“We’ve been running for six years, we get visitors from Furness Carers, the Autistic Society, and schools.

“People come from all over Cumbria to visit, the nearest skateparks after us are Glasgow and Blackpool.

Urban Extreme Indoor Skatepark currently has seven members of staff.

Jane said: “There are five of us plus two Saturday boys who are going to be made unemployed.

Barrow and Furness MP Simon Fell said: “It’s clear from my inbox that people really care about the Skatepark and want it to reopen. Obviously we need it to still be there for that to happen.

“My team has asked Barrow Council to look at their eligibility for a grant – not least as new discretionary funding has been released by the government for exactly this type of use.

“The #BrilliantBarrow campaign is all about bringing facilities to the town to improve it – we really need to make sure that we hang on to the great ones that are already here too!”