RIVAL ice cream vendors have come to a head in frosty exchanges on the seafront.

Traders in Brighton’s Madeira Drive say unlicensed ice cream van drivers have threatened to “burn down their parlours” and “cut off their heads”.

Only four vans are licensed to sell ice cream in Brighton.

Every summer, the council’s seafront office hunts down dozens of illicit traders.

But shopkeepers in Madeira Drive say the competition has taken a vicious turn in recent weeks.

Neil Sykes, manager of the Modern World seafront café, said: “When I told them they can’t trade here without a licence, they said they’d come back, burn my shop to the ground, and cut off my head.”

“It’s like a bloody mafia. And then when we try to take their details down, we’ve had them screech off and give us the finger out the window.

“There are kids around for god’s sake. They’ve got absolutely no respect.”

The Argus:

Neil’s 73-year-old father Ron Smith, who owns several ice cream parlours in the city, has never seen the rivalry so fierce.

He said: “This kind of thing is all part and parcel of being an ice cream trader.

“You come to accept it. But in all my years I’ve never known it to get this ugly.”

The Argus checked the number plates of the vehicles reported by traders in Madeira Drive with the council. None held licences to sell ice cream.

The seafront office has urged licensed vendors to document any illicit trading or menacing behaviour.

Seafront operations manager Chris Ingall said: “In the summer months we see a big rise in ice cream traders coming down from Crawley, Croydon, and further afield to ply their trade in Brighton.

“We’ve got a long coastline: it’s easy pickings for them.

“In the past we’ve done a pretty good job managing this along the promenade and up towards Hove.

“But what we’ve seen this year is traders moving from that end of town and coming to Madeira Drive.

“We want to protect seafront traders who are selling ice cream perfectly legally.

“Of course, our team is also in charge of keeping the beach safe and as you can understand we have got a lot on in the summer.

“Our lifeguards are busy patrolling the beach and saving lives.

“But we do patrol, engage and chase off unlicensed drivers where we can.

“We also document pictures of unlicensed traders and send them over to Brighton and Hove parking enforcement.”

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove city Council said: “The field officer team visits the site of each reported unlicensed trader to advise of the offence being committed and to warn of enforcement action.

“In each case the trader left the site immediately, and has not, to our knowledge, returned.”

He said traders from Brighton can get hold of permits through the seafront office, the parks team, or apply for a street trading licence.

Selling ice cream from a van in the city centre is not permitted.