AN impressionist has gone the extra mile to try and save the town's much-loved ice rink by campaigning as Ali G.

Ashley Prout from Reading has overcome hard times in lockdown by using comedy to create hilarious voice impressions and music videos of Family Guy and Disney.

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"I was absolutely gutted when I heard the news it shut down." he said.

After losing his job as a sound and lighting engineer and DJ, Ashley (Aka Voice of Ash) decided to do something that would "make people smile".

Ashley published a video of a staged a protest outside the John Nike Leisure Complex on Tuesday, August 11, in the hope Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays the real Ali G, will come forward and show support for the ice rink and ski slope.

Ashley said: "I didn't expect it to get so big and a lot of people on twitter have been getting the hashtag going and tweeting the video to Sacha Baron Cohen. I loved going there, played ice hockey when I was a kid and had fun at the Friday night ice skating discos.

"I first started doing impressions in lockdown and after losing my job I went through a really dark time. I knew I just wanted to make people smile and bring a bit of joy as there was so much negativity in the news. I've always been a big fan on him [Sacha Baron Cohen] as his comedy is not to be taken too seriously."

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The video Ashley has made mimics the plot of the 2002 film Ali G Indahouse, where Ali G's character actually stages a protest outside the John Nike Leisure Centre, which was under threat of closure in the movie.

On June 14, the centre actually closed down prompting online petitions and fundraising campaigns to save it.

The 32-year-old said: "If a new ice rink opens up it will be great but if we can save the original one then its even better as it holds many great memories for people in Bracknell."

See the video his Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/voiceofash