No permit, no pies: Pubs' anger at licensing rules

Owner of Little Brewing Company, Matthew Willers, said it was an "incredibly testing" time for his business

Food vendors say they have been told to apply for a licence to continue serving from pop-up stalls outside pubs in Derby.

Several pubs in the city centre have invited food trucks onto their land to set up stall for a number of years - and cannot understand why they have now been told they need a licence.

But the city council has said the food vendors need street trading licences under national guidance, which the council started to enforce late in 2024, and it is simply following the rules.

Matthew Willers, who owns Little Brewing Company in Darley Abbey, said: "It's caused a huge amount of stress for small businesses at a time we don't need any more uncertainty."

Little Brewing Company is one of the venues affected by the council's rule change

The BBC has seen social media posts from at least four Derby hostelries which said they had received emails from the council which told them they needed to apply for a licence.

Mr Willers said: "It's an incredibly testing time, we thought we'd be in for a good summer with the good weather. And now not a single one of our food vendors can come and visit us.

"It's going to hit us hard. It's a lot of extra, unnecessary paperwork.

"All of these vendors have to comply with environmental health - they've all had inspections. They've all got MOT's on their vehicles. They've all gas-safe certificates for appliances and public liability insurance."

Bah Bah Mezze is a mobile food vendor that has also been affected by the change

"I'm really hoping there's at least a pause on this policy," Mr Willer said.

"If there is a genuine need for more checks on vendors then that's one thing - but there needs to be a grace period and a period of consultation."

Thomas Robinson, from Bah Bah Mezze which is one the of the affected vendors, said: "The timing, delivery and lack of finer detail on the announcement yesterday by Derby City Council was extremely disappointing."

"If any trader or landowner wants to discuss their situation, they can contact our Licensing team directly for advice", said the city council.

The city council said it had not introduced a new policy regarding street food vendors.

A council spokesperson said: "Our approach aligns with longstanding legislation and national guidance, a position reaffirmed by the licensing committee on September 12, 2024.

"We recently became aware of unlicensed trading activity and contacted these traders, advising them of the existing requirements.

"It's important to remember that the onus is on landowners or traders to proactively engage with the licensing authority before operating. We have no evidence those recently contacted have done so.

"We understand concerns from traders on private premises, however, we are simply enforcing existing statutory duties to regulate all public-facing trading fairly."