An ice cream man has declared war on a rival in a row over a sought-after pitch. Frank Cannata, 67, was booted out of his spot in a park after a café owned by the local council installed its own ice cream machine.
In a bid to stop the café taking his business he hatched a cunning plan he hopes will have his rival licked. And he is now giving away ice creams every weekend while parked in a nearby street. Last weekend alone he handed out 1,400 freebies.
Frank’s wife Jo said: “It’s not about the money, it’s the principle, and if we have to give ice creams away for a year, so be it.” Frank’s Ices was set up by Frank’s dad, also called Frank, in 1957. Frank Jnr, who took over when his dad retired in 1990, has had his own ice cream van since he was 17.
He has sold ice creams in Wisbech Park, in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on Saturdays and during school holidays for the past 15 years.
The café is inside a pavilion owned by Fenland District Council and managed by Wisbech Town Council. A tenant last year had an agreement that Frank could still sell ices in the park.
But Jo says when a new cafe tenant took over in March, he was given the order to move on. The cafe began selling an ice cream cone and a flake for £1 last month and now flogs cornets for £2.
Jo said: “We have no animosity towards the council, it’s the way it has all been done. We feel the new café tenants didn’t need to have an ice cream machine. Their main income is food and drink, not ice cream.
“We weren’t even asked to go to have a meeting and discuss with him to see if we could come to a compromise. It was just a ‘Sorry, you can’t trade in the park any more’. [It] is such a shame as we’ve been there for 15 years and got lots of lovely loyal customers.
“We think there is enough room in the park for both of us. This is our main income, this is what we live off.”
Jo added they aim to get a licence so they can sell from a nearby street. She said: “I hope we get it because lots of people have come up to us and said it’s ridiculous, you’ve been here for years and years and we all love you.”
Fenland District Council said it could not comment due to being in the pre-local-election period “when there are restrictions on local authority communications”. Wisbech Park Café was contacted for comment.
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