BRADFORD Council has pledged to restrict mobile vendors at outdoor events in City Park to support city centre traders after complaints about ice cream vans taking trade away from existing businesses.

It follows calls from the owner of a city centre ice cream parlour angry that the vans are regularly allowed into the pedestrian area by the council and end up poaching the extra business from firms that are there every day.

Fiaz Khan, of iCreams in Centenary Square, gave the example of Bradford Pride, which took place in May, as an occasion when his takings had been hit due to an ice cream van parking near the mirror pool.

He told the Telegraph & Argus: “At the end of the day it means I don’t get any extra trade when these events are on. At a recent event the van parked right by the pool, a prime spot. Kids are more likely to go to a van as well.

“The difference it makes to my takings is massive, as I lose about half of my profits when there is a van.

“Whenever there is a big event they always seem to be allowed in. But those are the days we existing businesses look forward to – it’s an opportunity to make our money.”

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He said he had complained to the Council a number of times and welcomed the latest move from the authority.

The Council confirmed that its rules did not allow ice cream vans when the event was Council-run and that they planned to change the rules in the future for other events.

Mr Khan added that the owners of the kiosk in Centenary Square had similar issues.

Tony Whiteley and Mohamed Memi, co-owners of the nearby Centenary News kiosk, who also sell ice cream, added their concerns.

Mr Whiteley said: “It definitely affects our trade when there is an ice cream van at an event. At the last big event it was parked right behind our cabin. I welcome the news from the council.”

Saira Jabeen, manager of The Pavilion on the edge of the mirror pool, said that there were occasions when the number of mobile vendors at big events in City Park left them with no discernible boost in trade.

But she said that when it came to Council-run events, the authority liaised with existing businesses to see how they can work together.

“We have already had three visits about what we can do when the Sky Ride and Bradford City Run take place later this year,” she said.

A Council spokesman said: “We already don’t allow ice cream vans in City Park as part of Council events and in future we are going to request further details from anyone running non-council events asking for a licence to trade food and drink.

“We will tighten up the rules to disallow ice cream vans as we want to support the businesses around City Park as far as possible.”

In 2012 the Council lifted a street trading ban in City Park the six-acre flagship park area to bring it in line with Centenary Square.

During the discussions, councillors reiterated that they were keen to see strict guidelines introduced so that only the best was on offer in the multi-million pound park, which opened to the public in March that year.