Ice cream war in Wisbech sees operator Franks Ices scoop rivals with free cones giveaway

An ice cream war raging in Wisbech saw one operator scoop his rivals by giving away £3,000 of free cones at the weekend.

Frank Cannata and his wife Joanne, owners of Franks Ices, handed out the free cones of their homemade whippy ice cream as a “point of principle”.

The couple have been left fuming over a decision by Fenland District Council and Wisbech Town Council to exclude them from selling their ice cream, which is freshly made to an old family recipe, in Wisbech Town Park.

Franks Ices has been a permanent fixture at weekends and school holidays in the park for the past 15 years.

However, the recent change of ownership of the café in the park, which is leased out by the town council, led to Franks being told they were no longer welcome on their regular pitch.

The decision has prompted a groundswell of opinion on social media, with the public getting behind Frank and his family business.

Frank said: “The new operators at the café have decided to install an ice cream machine, and we have been told that we can no longer sell our ice creams in the park as a result.

He said the family had originally applied to run the café when applications were invited last year, but did not win the tender; instead, it went to the Crazy Cow café.

However, the Crazy Cow did not sell whippy ice cream, and a deal was struck that Franks Ices could continue to operate in the park but would not sell cans of drink while the cafe was open.

“That worked really well, we sold our ice creams, and the café sold its food and drink,” said Joanne.

However, the decision by the new operators to install the ice cream machine ended that deal.

Joanne said: “It is really them being greedy, there was no reason why we could not have continued just selling ice creams and the café doing food and drink.”

The ban on Franks Ices from the park means he does not have the necessary street vendor licence to park in one place and sell his ice cream.

Ice cream vans can operate without a licence if they are constantly moving from street to street.

However, Frank decided he wanted to make a point and so took the decision to set up his van outside the park in Park Avenue and to get round the need for a licence decided to give his cones away.

He said: “It is a point of principle for me. I gave away 1,430 cones – that’s about £3,000 worth of ice cream - on Saturday and I am going to do it again this weekend.

“It is not about the money, I don’t care, in fact I might do it all year – it is just how they have gone about it and the way they have treated us.”

Wisbech Town Council clerk Terry Jordan said Franks Ices had been aware they were on borrowed time with the opening of the café in the park.

He said they were told they would not be able to sell ice creams any more. However, because the previous operators were not selling whippy cones it had been agreed they could stay on.

Mr Jordan said that the change of operator and their decision to sell ice cream had meant the deal was no longer valid.