Pete Gillespie, snow sports director at the 23 million centre, sparked calls to the police when he was spotted skiing on the roof of the massive building on Friday.

"I had great fun" said Pete, of Oliver Road in Bennetts End. "It was beautiful scenery. It felt like a whole other world.

"There's so much bad news about the snow. We thought we would try and make some fun out of what has caused trouble for so many people."

People started gathering nearby as they spotted Pete, who climbed to the roof attached to a hoist, making his way down the 160m roof a total of 20 times.

Onlooker Andy Harrison, 24, said: "It was weird - this guy just started skiing down the roof and nobody knew what was going on.

"Some people called the police because they thought he might hurt himself but it turned out to be just a bit of fun. I suppose you can't blame him, he was taking advantage of the snow on the roof."

A risk assessment team supported Pete on the top of the centre as he twisted and turned at a height of 16m.

"When it was being built we joked that it would be great to get snow on the roof and to ski on it" added the 39 year old.

"But we never thought it would happen."