Olympic figure skating champion Robin Cousins is returning to the ice in September to star in a new pantomime.

Cousins, who celebrated his 52nd birthday yesterday, won a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics and was three-times world free-skating champion,

The panto Santa Claus and the Return of Jack Frost will be performed Mayflower Theatre, Southampton from December 11 to January 16.

Cousins, now known by millions of television viewers as a judge on ITV's Dancing On Ice, plays the evil Jack Frost, who many centuries ago was banished and imprisoned within the glaciers of the North Pole.

Each winter, as the ground freezes and turns white, he attempts to escape his prison.

In the pantomime, Santa Claus (played by Roy Barraclough from All the Small Things and Coronation Street) battles to save the world with the help of his elves.

With global warming, Jack Frost and his henchman Thaw, The Glaciator (Atlas from Gladiators) escape and return to wreak havoc on mankind.

Cousins, working on a new ice dance show in the Netherlands, said: "I'm very much looking forward to singing and dancing again. However I will be doing a little spin on the ice as well."

The new pantomime will feature laughter and slapstick, snowball fights, ice skating, and some familiar Christmas songs accompanied by a full orchestra.

Cousins grew up in Sea Mills and fell in love with ice skating at the age of five when he saw an ice show while on holiday in Bournemouth.

He started learning to skate as soon as the Bristol Ice Rink in Frogmore Street opened. His career highlight was winning gold at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.