Ice cream man hit with noise complaint over van's music

An ice cream man has been hit with a noise complaint by someone who did not like the loud chimes from his van.

Mark Edwards was contacted by the council after a Tonyrefail resident complained about the van's music being played in the evening.

He said he had been serving the area for more than 20 years without a complaint and was determined "not to let one individual spoil it for everybody else" and has agreed with customers to beep his horn in each street so they know he is there.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council said it received a noise complaint in June relating to music being played after 20:00 BST, which it investigated and found to be valid.

Edwards, from Trebanog, said he was taken aback when he found a letter from the council on the van's dashboard: "Twenty-odd years and I have never had anything like this at all. It's unbelievable."

He said his employer told him to stop operating in the area because continuing to use the chimes could result in a fine, but he did not want to stop serving customers, so came up with the alternative plan.

"I thought 'I'm not going to let one individual to spoil it for everybody else', so have come to an arrangement with my customers in the area.

"They know roughly what time I'm there and I toot the horn in each street, and they all come out and enjoy it. They're not going to beat me."

The council said the law required a 19:00 cut-off time for ice cream van operators to use their chimes, but it did not "prevent them from trading after this time".

It added that Edwards had been sent a letter reminding him of these requirements and that it considered the matter closed.

The story prompted reaction from others in the area, with some defending him.

Amy Elwood, from Trebanog, said: "It's a bit silly to be honest, Mark is not harming anybody. I don't see what the problem is about."

Eleven-year-old Lexi said: "Its exciting, its nice to have ice cream in the hot weather."

She said she thought the music should continue in the evening because "it's been like this for years".

Edwards said he had been surprised by the response on social media.

"I knew I was pretty popular but I didn't think I was as popular as I am now - its just gone completely crazy," he laughed.

He said the chimes only played for a few seconds at a time and questioned weather the 19:00 rule should be reviewed, branding it "outdated".

"With local businesses going down, the last thing we need is to go out of business," he added.

"It is a dying game as it is to be honest. There are less and less of us about."

The council said it had a legal duty to investigate noise complaints and it had a duty to enforce the rules.