Ice cream van 'cold war' at Sheffield primary school
- Published
The head teacher at Birley Primary says the van causes congestion
A row has broken out in Sheffield over whether an ice cream vendor should be allowed to park outside the gates to a primary school and sell his cones and pop to pupils.
Paul Grayson applied to Sheffield City Council to renew his licence to sell from his van outside Birley Primary Academy school.
But the head teacher and some parents said the van was increasing congestion and putting pupils' safety at risk.
Mr Grayson has denied the claims.
The authority confirmed its licensing committee had granted his licence renewal application during a meeting on Tuesday.
Some parents say there is a vendetta against Mr Grayson
School head Dawn McAughey objected to the licence renewal because she said she had received numerous complaints over the years about the van "adding considerably to the congestion at the end of the school day on what is already a very busy road".
One parent's letter of objection said the school's healthy eating principles were compromised by the ice cream van.
Parent Annemarie Reid said Birley Primary was part of Jamie Oliver's healthy eating school scheme, yet Mr Grayson "sells items we cannot have in school, so why can he sell this outside the gate?"
She said he wears "street clothes" rather than overalls, while another claimed he was "rude and abusive".
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Mr Grayson has denied all the claims and said he "can't afford" to lose the £300-£400 he makes at the school every day.
He said: "Rude - never. I've been doing this job a long time, I've never had so much hassle as since I've come to this school."
Other parents said "the kids love him" and some just have a "vendetta" against him.