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Many feel summer in the UK is not complete without the jingle of an ice cream van shooting down a residential street and a crowd of excited children chasing behind it. But are ice cream vans
actually EVIL? Yesterday, it was reported that a man had called the police to complain about the noise from a local ice cream van. On The Wright Stuff this morning, Matthew Wright and his
team of panellists debated the issue. Matthew stood firmly that ice cream vans were a big nuisance. He joked: “Mr Whippy deserves a good thrashing!” He explained: “They parked on street
corners making life dangerous for pedestrians and kids. Some councils curb jingles and others prevent them from being parked outside schools. “I say take the £2.50 they make you spend on a
Flake 99 and spend it on fruit.” But Matthew’s panelists didn’t agree with his strong views. Former footballer John Barnes said: “It’s not hot that often in this country so if children are
eating sugar from the ice cream, it’s only on a rare occasion.” Actress Judi Shekoni argued that ice cream vans were a British institution. She said: “I lived in America for a time and ice
cream vans hold such strong British memories for me.” The show took then took the debate to the phone lines.