Owning a mobile food outlet.

[flobadob]

When you own a mobile food outlet such as a chip van, ice cream van etc. are you allowed to go wherever you wish to sell your wares or do you have to apply to a council or equivalent everywhere you go to?

[Buenchico]

Anyone selling to the public while:
(a) the seller is on a public highway (which includes footpaths, verges and lay-bys) ; or
(b) the purchaser is on a public highway
is required to hold a street trader's licence. Such a licence will normally specify a specific location but vehicles which only stop briefly at any particular location (e.g. touring ice cream vans) seem to be exempted. (I'm unsure as to whether that's by statute or simply by convention).

Chris

[flobadob]

I wonder what "particular location" means? Like if one goes to a large car park, are the four corners four separate locations, thereby avoiding the need for a licence?

[EDDIE51]

All the vans you see parked in laybys etc will have a licence for that location , issued by the council. The licences for the best locations are sold by auction to the highest bidder. You also need a food hygiene certificate.
Vans that do not stay in the same place like ice cream vans and the old chip vans (what happened to them?) do not need a council licence but still have to have the hygiene certificate.

[Buenchico]

Most car parks, Flobadob, aren't 'public highways', so no street trader's licence is required.

Eddie:
We've still got a mobile chippy which covers all of the local villages around here. We don't see it in our small town, because there are two 'proper' chippies here, but I sometimes buy from it on a Wednesday evening (when it's open in the village 3 miles down the road, where the van owner lives). However her prices are far from cheap!

[EDDIE51]

The 'chippy' is not the same as the old chip van. I remember when the chip van was due there would be queues of people waiting at the stopping points up to half an hour before he arrived. Wonder how they get past the health and safety regs now, can't be too safe driving round with a tank of boiling hot fat in the back of the van ? You used to be able to smell when the van was coming.

[Zacs-Master]

Also, be careful you don't try to nick someone elses pitch otherwise you might wake up to a burnt out hulk which was once your business.

[EDDIE51]

Remember the 'Ice Cream Wars' one of the court cases was only settled in 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.o...lasgow_Ice_Cream_Wars
Mind you in those days the vans sold rather more than just ice cream ! they were fronts for drug dealing and 'fencing' stolen goods.