AN ICE sculpture entrepreneur from Swindon is making a comeback after his fourth heart attack, a serious flood, and a broken-down freezer van.

Robert Chequer, 71, started Ice Promotions in early 2017 to make ice sculptures for hen-dos and stag parties, from leaping dolphins to vodka luges.

After investing in expensive freezers and equipment to make the sculptures owner Robert suffered a heart attack in November and focused on ice cubes to keep the business going.

“We’ve gone through this hot period with crushed ice and cubes. I haven’t done any sculptures since November, when I had my heart attack,” said Robert.

“That’s my fourth heart attack, it’s a chequered history, given that my name is Chequer.”

“They take their toll, I was off work for a long time. When the heart goes out of rhythm you’re in trouble.

“Then we had a flood, it flooded the whole of the reception area downstairs. If you’ve ever seen a soaking wet ceiling tile, it looks like an out of shape dumpling stuck to the floor.

The ice sculptures are made using super-purified water kept in moulds which are frozen using 800 litres of anti-freeze, cooled to -20 centigrade and swirls around the moulds at a high-rate.

“It’s a very tricky and expensive process which has to be checked every three hours,” said Robert.

“We’re going to start pushing the ice business again, we’ve got a lad coming in who has been trained on social media.

“The ice cubes will be the primary business, and the moulding and sculptures will be the secondary part of it.

The sculptures can be lit from underneath with coloured lights and can have company logos inside and even flowers frozen inside.

“I’ve spent a lot of time and money on perfecting the technology for around a year to 18 months,” added Robert who got the idea for the business after going to his son's wedding at the Ice Palace in Sweden for his wedding in 2010.

"I think it’s got a very big potential market," he added.

“Something’s telling me the back of my head to just leave it alone, but the investment is very big."