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Can I Trade My Ice Cream Van in Other Council Areas?

by Khem Gurung
(Aldershot)

Powder blue classic ice cream van serving two customers at the open side hatch on a UK seaside street

Powder blue classic ice cream van serving two customers at the open side hatch on a UK seaside street

When I set up an ice cream van business do I have to stick to the council its registered to or I can ocasionally go to other councils to do business during events? Do we have to get special permits in order to be able to do that?

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Oct 07, 2026
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by: MobCater

This one trips up a lot of people when they first get going, Khem, so you are right to ask before you start turning up in other areas.

The thing to get clear is that registering your food business and getting a licence to trade on the street are two separate jobs. You register your food business once, with the council where your van is based, and that registration covers your business wherever you go. You do not have to register all over again with every council you fancy visiting. That part follows you.

The licence to actually trade is different. Street trading consent is tied to the streets inside each council's own patch, so if you want to pull up and sell on a public road or a public space in a different council's area, you normally need that council's consent as well, even for the odd day. Every council runs its own scheme and sets its own fees, and some are a good deal dearer than others, so it pays to ask first.

Events are usually the easier way to work outside your home patch. When you trade at a festival, a show or a fete that is on private land, you are there under the organiser's arrangements and the landowner's permission, so quite often you do not need the council's street trading consent at all. What the organiser will want to see is your food business registration, your hygiene rating and your public liability insurance, so keep those handy. If an event is on a public road or a council car park, give the council a ring first, because they may still want consent or run it through an events process.

A quick practical tip. Before you commit to a new area, phone that council's licensing team and ask two things, is the spot a consent street, and do they issue short term or occasional consents. Five minutes on the phone saves you a fine and a wasted trip. One more thing with ice cream in particular, because a lot of vans work a moving round rather than a fixed pitch, some councils treat roving trade differently, so check how they class what you plan to do.

I built a licensing checklist into the free app so you can see at a glance what each new area is going to ask for before you set off.

All the best

David

Disclaimer: This is general advice for UK mobile catering. Licensing rules and street trading consents vary between councils, so always check with each local authority before you trade in their area.

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