As the country basks in the hottest temperatures since the coronavirus outbreak began, the jingle that signals a Mr Whippy is at hand can be heard once again: the ice-cream van is making a comeback. They have faced council restrictions, tricky hygiene requirements, and even death threats. But with a captive audience and councils beginning to relax their rules, the country’s purveyors of Twisters and 99 Flakes are beginning to feel more optimistic about the future, some of them told the Guardian. “It seems to be picking up day by day now, and obviously with a bit of summer weather and a lot of people are still furloughed so they’re at home, we’re pretty busy for the next few days at least,” said Tony Roach, who delivers ice-cream around Eastbourne. Although under government guidance, ice-cream vans are subject to the same rules as takeaway restaurants and outdoor market stalls, restrictions have varied across regions and local authorities. Some councils have withdrawn licences for ice-cream vans during the lockdown, such as Blackburn, which revoked all permits but is in the process of reviewing its decision. “We need to think about safety over our enjoyment,” said councillor Jim Smith when making the original announcement. But in many areas of the country, vans have been allowed to continue operating as long as social distancing rules were maintained – although they weren’t welcomed by everyone. Zelica Carr, the CEO of the Ice Cream Alliance (ICA), said: “Some of our members were receiving death threats, because the council said they could go out and trade, and operate with social distancing, but some of the general public were, quite understandably, stressing about the fact everyone should be at home.” But she said many ice-cream traders had taken steps to ensure customers’ safety, and the ICA had sent out guidance to members – reminding them that 2 metres is roughly the length of a van, asking them to use contactless payments where possible, wear protective equipment such as gloves and use cone-holders to hand over ice-creams. It has been a tough few months for many ice-cream traders under lockdown, missing out on what would have been booming business during the sunniest April on record. Emma Wealthall owns a small ice-cream van business in Ripley, Derbyshire, alongside her daughter Jennifer Holmes. “We shut the business down totally in April because obviously you’ve got make sure you’re healthy first,” she said. “We were seeing all this nice weather, but my moral compass told me I needed to make sure I hadn’t got it.” Like many ice-cream traders, she was forced to adapt her business to the times, and started running individual home deliveries of larger, six-scoop ice-cream tubs, asking people to place orders over the phone. “I put something out on Facebook and I was quite overwhelmed with the response,” she said. Delivery slots were quickly booked up, and they had to stop taking orders due to the huge quantity of orders. The trays are a growing trend in the ice-cream world, pioneered by the likes of Tee Smith – known as Mr Tee – who’s elaborate creations have helped him garner 300,000 followers on social media. “It’s just proved so popular, and it’s really taken off well for everyone,” said Smith, an ice-cream seller in Wrexham, north Wales. “It seems passion for ice-cream during the lockdown has increased somewhat, as our service has been very, very busy.” “It was getting to a desperate stage where the weather is so nice people and want ice-cream, but you can’t just go and sell it as normal. You’ve got to do something outside the box,” said Roach, who has also switched his business to home delivery during lockdown. The services have proved so successful that some councils have even asked ice-cream vendors to take on extra items like bread and milk for those who are self-isolating. “Some of our members have been working in the community through their street work for many years and they know where those vulnerable people are,” said Carr. Now restrictions have been eased, Wealthall has been doing the rounds on the streets again, and is happy to be getting back to normality, although with extra hygiene measures still in place. “Washing and sanitising after absolutely every customer, after two days my hands were red raw, so I’m using gloves as well now,” she said. “And I sanitise my money every night.”