Ice cream vans

Ice cream vans are permitted to use chimes to advertise their trade provided that they do not give reasonable cause for annoyance to persons in the vicinity. There is a code of practice which provides guidance on minimising the noise from ice cream van chimes. The main points of this are:

  • It is an offence for ice cream vans to sound their chimes before 12noon or after 7pm
  • They should not sound their chimes for more than 12 seconds at a time
  • They should not sound their chimes more often than once every 2 minutes
  • They should not sound their chimes when within 50 metres of a school (during school hours), hospitals and places of worship (on Sundays and other recognised days of worship)
  • More often than once every two hours in the same length of street

If you are experiencing noise nuisance from an ice cream van that is not adhering to the above guidelines please report this using our noise pollution reporting form. Please ensure that you report the registration number of the vehicle.

Street enforcement

Open 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Emergency out of hours (between 6pm-3am) 024 7683 2222

Telephone: 024 7683 1853