AN ICE cream man claims he is being forced out of business after being ordered to vacate his 37-year pitch in a row over licence fees.

Alan Philipson, 61, owner of Hexhamshire Ices, is refusing to pay for a £360 licence to sell from his van at The Sele in Hexham.

And now he says he has been told by Northumberland County Council licensing officers that the spot he currently occupies will be handed to a different ice cream man on April 1.

Alan, of Whitley Chapel, has already refused to pay a £70 parking fine imposed after parking rules and restrictions were altered last year.

Now he claims the £10 licence fee he paid 37 years ago should stand for life.

“When I started this business back in 1975 I paid £10 – which was a lot of money then – for what was a life-time agreement to sell ice cream from here.

“Now Northumberland County Council has come along and introduced a £360 annual fee which I don’t think I should have to pay.

“A licensing officer has turned up and told me this space has been let out to tender, and from April 1 another ice cream seller will take it over.

“I have no intention of standing by and letting that happen.

“On April 1, I will turn up to my place as normal and sell ice cream as I have done for the last 37 years.”

A 2,000-name petition supporting popular Alan has already been gathered in support of his stance over the parking fine.

He is prepared to go to court if the council pursues the case, arguing that he was not consulted over changes to parking limits, which were altered to 8am to 5pm.

“It’s getting to the stage where it’s bully-boy tactics,” Alan added.

“I’ve always stood on the park and I have calculated that over the years my little business has contributed exactly £96,563 to the local economy.

“When I first started the business, I checked on what I had to do and paid the old Tynedale Council a £10 fee which was a one-off payment for life.

“Now I’m told my place has been given to someone else.

“I’m not afraid of competition, but I was never even invited to tender.

“This is my livelihood, and I will keep going in April. I can’t afford to go on the dole if I’m put out of business.” A Northumberland County Council spokesman said last night: “Mr Philipson does not have street trading consent and as such he is not legally entitled to undertake street trading within Northumberland.

“An advertisement requesting invitations to tender for the ice cream pitch in The Sele park was placed in The Journal in January, but we did not receive a tender from Mr Philipson.

“He has now been told to vacate the pitch as the tender has been awarded to another trader.”

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