WARRING ice cream sellers have clashed in Worcester - as one vendor secured a controversial deal to sell along the city's plum riverside right under his rival's nose.

Your Worcester News can reveal how the city's oldest ice cream firm, Piccadilly Whip, has been left infuriated after another company was allowed to set up a static pitch just in time for the peak tourist season along the same location.

Bears Great Escapes Limited, ran by businessman Stephen Connelly, has secured a deal from Worcester City Council today to trade by the fountains for up to seven days a week after his rival was accused of "sour grapes" and "wanting to have his cake and eat it".

We can reveal how the two quarrelling traders have been competing for customers for years and have made scores of complaints to regulatory services chiefs about each other in an ongoing spat.

Things got so bad that Piccadilly Whip, ran by the Bright family for more than 60 years, has been subject to undercover surveillance by enforcement officers in recent years - more a case of Tom and Jerry than Ben & Jerry's.

The city council's licensing sub-committee allowed Bears Great Escapes to expand today, under the condition that it cannot operate at the riverside when markets are being held after concerns from operator LSD promotions.

It came despite Jeffrey Bright, the owner of Piccadilly Whip, sending the city council a letter of objection saying relations between the two are "so bad I've sought advice from the police".

Mr Bright claimed enforcement officers "insulted one my lads on my bike, calling him a pretty boy", and accused Mr Connelly of "flouting the rules and regulations" for nine years by allegedly using a static van in other locations instead of a trike, saying "he seems to think he has the upper hand on my company".

But his written complaints were criticised by a solicitor representing Bears Great Escapes, Heath Thomas, from Harrison Clark Rickerbys, who said it "lacked credibility".

"It doesn't withstand any scrutiny, it's a bit of 'having your cake and eating it'," he said.

"It's sour grapes as far as Mr Bright is concerned, he talks about Mr Connelly 'flouting regulations for nine years' but there's no evidence of that.

"We have Mr Bright making open, very derogatory comments but no evidence."

He also told the meeting of the city council's licensing sub-committee that none of the claims were relevant to the application.

Adrian Field, from Worcester's Business Improvement District (BID), had sent a letter of support on Bears Great Escapes' expansion bid, saying it had a "good track record", "high standards" and very professional staff.

The firm will now be allowed to sell ice-cream, yoghurts and sorbet from a static trike in the vicinity of the fountains every day, from 10am-10pm, except when riverside markets are on.

Before now it was only allowed to pass through the route, stopping only momentarily on its travels around the city.

Under normal street trading rules fellow traders are barred from selling within any 50-metre radius, but the committee agreed to scrap that condition to appease Mr Bright, who also sells there on a pushbike.

The three committee members were Conservative Councillor Chris Mitchell, and Labour Councillors Paul Denham and Jabba Riaz.