A bank holiday surge in viewers helped newly-launched racing channel Attheraces boast 100,000 figures, backer Arena Leisure has said.

The May 6 figure, on a day including meetings at Doncaster, Newmarket and Kempton, was twice the average peak, Arena said.

The figures, achieved ahead of a summer TV advertising campaign, were "extremely encouraging", channel chief executive Chris Stoddart said.

"These audience figures have exceeded our expectations for our first few weeks on air," Mr Stoddart added.

The Attheraces channel, also backed by BSkyB and Channel 4, and broadcast through the Sky network, was launched on 1 May as part of an internet, radio and mobile race reporting operation.

In the City, Arena Leisure shares were unchanged at 38p in afternoon trade on Thursday.