Ice cream ban on the beach

Frinton-on-Sea, the Essex resort that never seemed to emerge from the Fifties, is facing a new battle against the march of time.

After failing to ban a fish and chip shop and then mounting a huge and fruitless defence against the first pub in town, the council is now attempting to stop the sale of ice cream on the beach.

In fact, ice creams are not being sold on the beach. Gary Grange, the ingenious deckchair man, is really selling almost worthless little flags for £1 each and then - er, out of the kindness of his heart - gives his customers a free ice cream.

In this way, he believes, he has found a loophole through the draconian powers of Tendring District Council which decrees that of all the beaches in all of England, Frinton is the one that must remain unsullied by an ice cream stand.

Mr Grange, who lives out-side the resort - inland at Weeley Heath - said: "I'm not going to give up. There is a huge demand on the seafront for ice cream. It's not doing anyone any harm.

"I'm not selling ice cream, I've giving it away with the flags and there is no law against that. There is nothing in my lease stating I'm not able to do this."

He insisted that since both the ice cream and the cone were edible, there would be no problem with litter, adding: "I've found a niche which people want and it does not take anything away from the local area."

The fact that people might actually want the product on offer was the argument put forward by the man who eventually opened the Nice Fish and Chips shop, and by Wetherspoon's pub chain, which went through a lengthy planning battle before it was allowed to open a pub in the former ironmonger's shop.

However, the council has given Mr Grange until the end of this week to get back into line. Its spokesman, Mike Page, said: "We have served him notice to cease trading in ice cream and if he does not, he will forfeit his lease."

The council has the predictable backing of the powerful Frinton Residents' Association whose spokesman, Len Brooks, said: "This man is making a mockery of Frinton and totally flouting the rules. One of the reasons people come to the town is because it is untouched and if they want a kiss-me-quick experience, they should go to Walton or Clacton."

These two resorts on either side of Frinton are renowned for the more up-to-date British seaside experience.

If Mr Grange is forced to stop providing ice creams, his customers will have to walk for 10 minutes into the town's main street. One of them, Paul Gladstone, who was visiting from Hampshire, said: "I can't see the harm in it at all. If you go out for a day at the beach it is just too far to walk into town to get an ice cream. He is providing a much-needed service.

"It is ridiculous that there has been no way of getting refreshments here before. I don't think selling ice cream will in any way take away from the untouched atmosphere of Frinton."

Anyone who has watched this genteel resort being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century can expect plenty of seaside fun before this battle is over. But then, the war on progress is part of the essential charm of this backwater of the British way of life - for those who can observe from a distance, at least.

When Ernie White opened his fish and chip shop in what had formerly been the Copper Kettle Teashop there were suggestions that the town would instantly be swamped in a tide of chip wrappers - even if he was calling it "Nice Fish and Chips".

When the battle of the pub broke out three years ago, an anonymous circular was distributed forecasting that residents near the main street of Connaught Avenue would have to put up with "vomit-ing and urinating in their front garden".

Suggestions that this was an over-reaction by the fuddy-duddy element only added to the trouble.

When the pub eventually opened last year under the name of the Lock And Barrel, it was promptly nicknamed the Stick And Zimmer, and the joke name seems to be as enduring as the establishment's success.

Frinton fact file