A councillor for Frinton has criticised an influx of ‘rogue traders’ coming to the small seaside town to sell icecream and other fast foods to cater to crowds drawn by the heatwave.

East Anglian Daily Times: Frinton and Walton Town Councillor and former mayor Terry Allen has spoken up about 'rogue traders' who have come to the seafront, following the heatwave crowds. Picture: ANDREW PARTRIDGEFrinton and Walton Town Councillor and former mayor Terry Allen has spoken up about 'rogue traders' who have come to the seafront, following the heatwave crowds. Picture: ANDREW PARTRIDGE

Terry Allen, Frinton and Walton town councillor, has been left frustrated as crowds of both visitors and traders have overwhelmed the usually quiet area, taking advantage of the lack of parking measures and enforcement.

“The regular visitors to Frinton come for the sea, sun, sand and nothing else and while they do come in their thousands normally, we’ve never seen anything like these crowds recently,” Mr Allen explained.

“We are a town by the sea, not a seaside resort like Clacton or Walton, we don’t have facilities like they do and we don’t have all the razzmatazz.

“A few rogue traders have come along and felt they can sell their goods on the seafront where no one has a license to do so.

“On our high street we have several places which sell icecream and food and those staff have paid their rent, done their Covid training and yet they’re having customers taken away by these traders who don’t seem to implement any social distancing when they have huge queues.”

Mr Allen is also shocked by the behaviour of some visitors who have reportedly taken advantage of the “common sense and decency” the town usually relies on to police parking, as residential avenues have been filled with cars all the way up to the train station.

He said people have been “misusing” the town with cases of people parking on the turf of the greensward along the seafront as well as in flower beds, prompting a call for stricter measures such as double yellow lines and parking tickets to penalise visitors.

A spokesman for Tendring District Council said the authority is aware of this situation and is currently looking in to it.

“Until we have completed our research and investigations it would not be appropriate to make further comment at this stage,” they said.

“In general terms a parked up ice cream van would require a permit in certain streets, while some roads have a ban on street trading – including the Esplanade in Frinton.

“In addition anyone wanting to trade from one of our open spaces, such as Greenswards, parks or promenades, would need our express permission to do so.”

MORE: Tourists create parking chaos in Dedham, with locals saying it’s now ‘like Butlins’