ENVIRONMENTAL health officers say the state of an ice cream van serving children in Bransholme was the worst they had ever seen.
Ice cream seller Richard Lister has been fined £750 after he pleaded guilty to six food safety offences at the Hull Magistrates' Court.
He was using an ice cream van called Scooby-Doo and traded around the Bransholme area serving ice creams, ice lollies and sweets.
Lister, of Plane Street, west Hull, knew officers wanted to inspect the van for some time but he managed to evade them.
When they finally tracked him down, officers found the surfaces covered in spilt ice cream, chocolate flakes and food colouring.
The vehicle and equipment inside was filthy and it was clear the van had not been cleaned for some time.
The van was in serious disrepair and there were holes in the structure of the vehicle.
Paul Turner, principal environmental health officer at the council, said: "In all my time here I have never seen anything like this, it is the worst ice cream van I have ever seen.
"We inspect many ice cream vans and they are normally to a high standard because people can see into the vehicle.
"This was more serious because most of the clientele are children.
"Any food-based operators would admit that these were deplorable conditions."
Despite the shocking state of the van, Lister has been allowed to continue and has a new van operating in Bransholme, trading under Lister's Ices.
Mr Turner said: "We only seek to ban people trading in extreme circumstances.
"This is certainly Mr Lister's warning and if his van was to be found in a similar state again, we would look to do just that.
"But we have examined his new van and we have passed it for trading.
"However, we will keep a close eye on Mr Lister to ensure he maintains the right standards."
On inspecting the van, officers found the food was not protected against contamination and rubbish and personal medication were stored among food items.
The hand wash basin and sink were filthy and blocked, having clearly not been in use for some time.
Dirty cloths were found and there was no sanitizer to clean and disinfect hands and surfaces.
There was no documented food safety management system in operation and the inspecting officer was of the opinion that there was a risk to public health.
Lister's Scooby-Doo van was forced to stop trading immediately.
The vehicle was in such a poor structural state of repair it has not returned to the road, despite being cleaned.
As well as the £750 fine, Lister, 38, was also ordered to pay £500 costs and a £75 victim surcharge.
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