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Can I Sell Coffee From My Driveway Without a Street Trading Licence?

by Paul Brown
(Ashford, UK)

Red vintage Piaggio Ape coffee van serving customers on a UK residential driveway

Red vintage Piaggio Ape coffee van serving customers on a UK residential driveway

I have a Piaggio Ape complete with coffee machine. Can I sell coffee and pre-wrapped biscuits/cake from a static position on my driveway without a street vendor license? Note: There is no barrier/gate between the drive and the road.

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Oct 01, 2026
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by: MobCater

Hi Paul, a Piaggio Ape with a coffee machine on the drive is a lovely little way to start, and the question you are really asking is whether your driveway counts as a "street" in the eyes of the council.

Here is how it works. Street trading consent applies to selling in a street, and in law a street includes roads, pavements and other places the public can get to without paying. A driveway that sits behind a gate, set well back from the road, is normally private land and outside all that. The detail you have flagged is exactly the one that matters though. With no barrier between your drive and the road, and customers stepping straight off the pavement to be served, a lot of councils will treat that as trading on or beside the highway and will expect you to hold a street trading consent. Others take a softer view for a small static setup on genuinely private ground. It really does come down to how your own council reads it, so the first call to make is to Ashford Borough Council's licensing team. Tell them exactly what you have told me, the Ape, the driveway, the open frontage, and ask them to put it in writing.

The licence is only half the picture. Whatever they say about street trading, you must register as a food business with the same council's environmental health team at least 28 days before you sell your first cup. It is free, it is the law, and it applies even to coffee and a few wrapped cakes. Those pre-wrapped biscuits and cakes also bring allergen rules in, so make sure the full ingredients and the 14 allergens are clearly listed on the packaging.

One more thing worth a quiet word. Trading regularly from a home driveway can count as a change of use for planning, and it can upset a neighbour or two, so a quick chat with the planning side now saves grief later.

Get the council onside early and you can trade with real confidence.

Keep going

David

Disclaimer: This is general advice for UK mobile catering. Licensing and street trading rules vary between councils, so always check with your local authority before you start trading.

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