Fuel prices 'will finish my ice cream business', says Reading vendor

Mr Field has served his share of famous customers including DJ Tony Blackburn

An ice cream vendor said his business will be "finished" after 40 years if the price of fuel does not come down.

Paul Field, from Reading, said as the price of fuel soars the cost of filling up his van with diesel for a week has doubled to £120.

The former Ice Cream Man of the Year said: "We just can't recoup that cost.

"I'm like a squirrel, I've got to build my bank account up in the summer to get me through the winter - but this year my account is going to be empty."

In recent days the prices of an average litre of unleaded petrol and diesel have increased to 182.31p and 188.05p respectively.

The Ice Cream Mobilisers and Associated Trades Alliance has said it is "deeply concerned" for ice cream vendors this summer.

The industry body's chairman Maurice Murray said this week: "Beyond doubt, we will lose vans."

Mr Field's firm, Maurice's Ice Cream, has served several famous faces in Berkshire over the years, including Theresa May, Princes William and Harry, and DJ Tony Blackburn.

He told the BBC he put his prices up last year to factor in the rising cost of ingredients and electricity bills for his cold storage.

"But we never expected this [fuel price rise] in a million years - that we'd be paying £2 a litre - we could have never predicted that so that wasn't in our equations last year."

With his ice creams priced at £2 and ice lollies at £1, "that's a lot of lollies we need to sell", he said.

Mr Field said he trades for 12 hours a day, from 10:00 to 21:00 BST, with his diesel engine running the entire time to power the ice cream machine.

"This is just going to destroy us," he said.

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds.