MILLY Alexander-Stiff skated to victory in the first-ever final of Planet Ice’s flagship programme Skating Star.

The nine-year-old from Oakridge was one of five finalists along with Archie Price, Holly McDonagh, Jacob Ray and Pip Lovelock.

All of them had only been skating 20 weeks as part of the Skating Stars initiative, which was launched earlier in the summer, giving non-skaters the chance to learn to skate.

It started with 15 skaters, who were whittled down to 10 and then a final five, who performed a solo skate in front of big crowd at the Basingstoke Arena as part of a special gala on Sunday.

Each of them had a spot in the show, which also showcased the skaters of Basingstoke Ice Skating Club.

All five skaters did extremely well, which made it tough for the five judges, who included Anne Court, the mayor of Basingstoke and Deane, and Dancing on Ice star Matt Evers.

The winner received a year’s free unlimited ice skating pass and also the chance to skate again at Basingstoke on October 23 as part of the Professionals on Ice show, which will include Evers and many more of the stars of Dancing On Ice.

A delighted Alexander-Stiff, a pupil at Great Binfields Primary School, said: “It was a real surprise. I can’t believe I have won.”

Proud mum Hayley Alexander said: “We were really nervous tonight. She has worked really hard and we are really proud of her.”

Evers, who is putting together the Professionals On Ice show, was amazed at the amount of talent on show and said: “I loved judging this evening and they have all done really well considering they have only be training for 20 weeks.

“For me, Milly was the best as she was incredibly artistic and I look forward to seeing her skate in our show next month.”

He added: “I also enjoyed the rest of the show and it was fantastic to see all the other skaters. There certainly are a lot of talented skaters in Basingstoke.

Rink manager Anita Curtis said: “Milly shone brightest on the night, but all of the skaters were stars.”