Goals Soccer Centres shares have slumped after the firm said its sales were knocked by the Beast from the East.

The firm, which runs football centres in the US and UK, including in Norwich and Ipswich, said its results would be 'materially below' analysts' expectations or the full year, knocking its shares by more than 20% to 19p.

For the first half of the financial year, sales fell 3% to £16.1m, due to the impact of 'extreme weather conditions' in the first quarter, which the company said had a substantial knock-on effect in the second quarter.

The sales impact was due to amateur 11-a-side games being deferred following the bad weather on to dates when 5-a-side teams were due to be playing.

Andy Anson, Goals Soccer Centres chief executive, said: 'The investment strategy that is being executed is improving the underlying performance of the clubs.

'However, frustratingly, the first half was impacted by the snow and its significant after-effects, which masks the performance of the business where positive trends are clear.'