Parents' warning over ice cream vans turning play areas into 'no-go zones'
Ella Scott
Featured Image Credit: Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
British parents have raised concerns after a bizarre ‘turf war’ between ice cream traders has allegedly turned a local play area into a ‘no-go zone’.
An area near Trumpington Park Primary School in Cambridge has seemingly become a sweet treat hotbed, with ice cream vans reportedly ‘turning up’ to pawn their wares to adults and children alike.
Stallan Close Play Area, situated opposite the educational institution, is being subjected to a ‘ceaseless merry-go round of traders’, with some guardians questioning whether the operating businesses are legitimate.
Cambridge News wrote that one disgruntled Brit has described the ‘turf war’ as a ‘nightmare’ for parents who don’t want to deny their child an icy delight.
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"We are trying to be good parents and saying no, you can't have an ice cream again. It may even be the third, fourth, fifth ice cream trader that turned up that afternoon,” he explained, adding that he wanted Cambridge City Council to step in and make changes to where and how ice cream traders operate.
However, a spokesperson from Cambridge City Council confirmed to the outlet that ice cream trucks don’t necessarily need to be registered with the council to operate within the city.
They’re good to go as long as they are registered as a food business with the local authority responsible for the area where the vehicle is normally kept overnight.
“All registered food businesses are subject to food hygiene and safety regulations, and members of the public can check a business’s food hygiene rating online,” the statement added.
According to the publication, one mother who picked her children up from school recently noticed that there were three ice cream vans in the vicinity.
Two of these were reportedly parked outside the school, while another was ‘across the park’.
The woman, aged 25, admitted that she also finds it difficult to say ‘no’ to her kids ‘whenever there are two, three ice cream vans’.
She added that the number of vans routinely rocking up are ‘a little bit silly’ but understood that ‘everyone needs to make money, and everyone has got bills to pay’.
A spokesperson for the construction company behind the Trumpington development, Vistry Group, said: "Vistry can confirm that the development at Trumpington is private land and no permission has been granted for ice cream traders to operate there.”
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that rival ice cream vendors have gone head-to-head to caputure customers’ attention.
Last March, Metro reported that police had been called to South Park, Darlington, after a dispute between van drivers turned hostile.
Following allegations of harassment, Durham Council suggested that the rule that ice cream vans should station at least 200 metres apart from each other had not been followed.
“Both companies applied at different times to operate a static pitch on Parkside, between Kingsbury Mews and Lakeside.
“Each application went through a consultation process and no objections were received from the responsible authorities,” a spokesperson said at the time.
“Our policy states that such vans should be at least 200m apart, and as the location in question is over a quarter of a mile long it provides more than enough space for two vehicles to operate and service the high public demand during the summer.”
They added that they had not heard any further problems since the initial incident.