'It was one of our best skates' says Scottish ice dancer despite medal disappointment at Europeans

The couple won the bronze medal, missing out on the silver medal position - which they have held for the two previous years - by less than a point, to French competitors Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud.

The British ice dancers’ medal-winning performance in Tallinn, Estonia, comes as Dundee skaters Anastaia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby placed fifth in the pairs competition at the championships - the highest level achieved by British skaters in the discipline since 1989.

Ms Fear and Ms Gibson were in third place after a disappointing score in the rhythm dance on Friday, taking their overall score to 206.02.

The pair said their 124.45 score in the free dance was one of their best of the season.

Mr Gibson, from Prestwick, said: “This might be our lowest placement this season, but it definitely didn’t feel like it. It was one of our best skates.”

Italian skaters Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri won their third European title, with an overall score of 212.12.

Mr Gibson and Ms Fear said they were looking ahead to the World Championships in March.

Mr Gibson said: “We did a lot before this event and it’s going to be great to solidify that and build the quality of what we changed and get it more together and be more confident in ourselves for that competition.

Ms Fear added: “We were really over the moon with our skate today [in the free dance], and especially the comeback from yesterday and how we geared up mentally and really went for it today with energy.”

She added: “That's the feeling that lasts for us and what we're going to take forward, but also all the feedback, which will be fuel and motivation to prepare for Worlds.”

They paid tribute to the performance of Scottish skaters Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby, who placed fifth in the pairs competition, with an overall score of 183.76 - equalling Cheryl Peake and Andrew Naylor, who were fifth at the same competition in 1987 and 1989.

Ms Fear said: “We’re so proud of them. It’s been amazing to see their improvement over the years and to get to compete with them more often.

“They’re such lovely people and we love spending time with them. They’ve been so supportive of us and we love to do that in return. It’s been amazing to see their success and we hope to see more of that.”

“We’ve been there at their first competitions and every time It’s inspiring for us.

Lilah: “Yesterday, I'd say that we weren't as together as we could have been, then that was our main focus today and it made it way better and more enjoyable for us. Today, I was really happy with everything we did.”

Mr Digby, who trains at Dundee Ice Arena with Ms Vaipan-Law, said after their skate: “Our goal was eighth, because we have been 10th and ninth before and wanted to climb up a little bit.

“We are thrilled and very proud of our achievement over the last two days.”

British ice dancers Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez scored 176.02 overall to finish in 13th place, despite Mr Hernandez suffering a bout of food poisoning which forced him to miss the practice session on Saturday morning.

“He’s really not feeling well, but he managed to push through the competition,” said Ms Bekker in the mixed zone after their skate.