ICE-cream sellers have criticised Darlington Borough Council's decision to double its charges for a licence.

The cost for a street trader's licence has risen by 100 per cent from £100 to £200 for an ice-cream van.

However, the council has said the new charges will pay for extra enforcement of unlicensed traders.

The ice-cream sellers say the new charges have come on top of a poor summer, which saw sales badly affected.

Ian Pritchard, who runs Soft Vans in the town, said he feels that the council does not do enough to justify the rise in charges.

He said: "We don't get anything for that extra £100.

"In the past it has gone up by only £5 or not at all.

"The ice-cream business hasn't been good this year with the weather.

"We park in the council car park. They wouldn't like it if we started charging their employees double the price for an ice-cream."

Kelvin Lazenby, who runs Darlington Ice Cream, said: "We've been really up against it this year with the weather.

"We're also having to compete against the supermarkets and the cheap prices they sell lollies at.

"We're also having to compete against each other, but we felt this was an issue we could come together on.

"I've got six vans so that's £1,200 we now have to pay.

"All you get for your money is a bit of white paper that you put in the front of your window like a tax disc.

"You expect it to go up a little bit, but when we started in the early-Nineties it was only £10."

A Darlington Borough Council spokesman said: "The new fee came into effect in April and Mr Pritchard paid it in May.

"It had previously been set at an unrealistic level and had to be raised to allow us to cover the costs of providing our services.

"There is additional enforcement now and our officers are regularly out checking on street traders and moving on those who are not properly licensed."