Mark Edwards, an ice cream man in Tonyrefail, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has been told to keep quiet after a noise complaint about his van's music. The complaint was made after he played music after 8pm in June, and he received a letter from the council.
Long-serving ice cream man faces complaint
Edwards has been operating in the area for over 20 years without any issues. He described the complaint as 'unbelievable', saying, 'Twenty-odd years and I have never had anything like this at all. It's unbelievable.'
His employer told him to stop operating in the area to avoid fines, but Edwards said he was 'not [going] to let one individual spoil it for everybody else'. Instead, he has adapted his approach, tooting his horn in each street, as locals know 'roughly' what time he will be there.
Community support
'They all come out and enjoy it,' Edwards said, adding that the complainers are 'not going to beat me'. The council confirmed that the law requires a 7pm cut-off time for ice cream vans to use their music, but this does not prevent them from trading.
Edwards' dilemma was shared on social media, prompting support from hundreds of people and his local community. Amy Elwood, from Trebanog, told The BBC: 'It's a bit silly to be honest, Mark is not harming anybody. I don't see what the problem is about.'
Tradition and business concerns
Eleven-year-old Lexi said the music should continue as it's tradition, adding: 'Its exciting, it's nice to have ice cream in the hot weather.' Edwards said of the support: 'I knew I was pretty popular but I didn't think I was as popular as I am now – it's just gone completely crazy.'
He questioned if the late night rule was 'outdated', arguing that the chimes only play for a few seconds at a time. 'With local businesses going down, the last thing we need is to go out of business,' he added. 'It is a dying game as it is to be honest. There are less and less of us about.'
The council said it considered the matter closed after fulfilling its legal duty to investigate noise complaints and enforcing the rules.
