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Does a Roadside Cafe Own the Pitch Around Their Van?

by Lesley finney
(Yate bristol)

Cream catering van parked in a roadside layby in the UK

Cream catering van parked in a roadside layby in the UK

Does a road side cafe own the pitch around his van

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Jun 16, 2026
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by: MobCater

This one comes up more than you would think, Lesley, usually when someone spots a roadside cafe doing well and wonders whether they can set up nearby. The short answer is no, a roadside trader does not own the ground around their van. What actually matters is whose land it sits on and what permission they hold to be there.

If that cafe is parked on the public highway, a layby or a grass verge, then the land belongs to the local authority or the Highways Authority, not the trader. Nobody can claim a stretch of public road as their own private pitch. To trade there at all they would normally need street trading consent from the council under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, and it is the council that decides who gets one. A council can limit how many consents it grants in any one spot, so in practice an existing trader might be the only one allowed, but that is the council managing the highway, not the trader owning the land.

If the cafe is on private land, a farmer's gateway, a pub car park, a retail park or a private forecourt, then it is the landowner who calls the shots. The trader will have an agreement with whoever owns that ground, and that owner can grant an exclusive pitch if they choose to. In that case you would need the landowner's permission to trade anywhere on their property, and they are perfectly entitled to say no to protect the trader already paying them.

So before you assume a patch is up for grabs, find out who owns it. A quick look at the Land Registry title for private ground, or a call to the council's licensing team for the roadside, will tell you exactly where you stand. I learned early on that the smart move is to ask first rather than turn up and hope, because arriving uninvited is the quickest way to fall out with both the landowner and the council.

Best of luck

David

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

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