From Mister Softee to Mr Whippy: Leeds ice cream man's life in vans

Ian Smith, 51, remembers being a three-year-old boy spending days out in Mister Softee vans in Leeds with his father Ian Smith Sr, who was an ice cream man in Leeds from the early 1960s.

Ian Smith Jr, of Cross Gates, saved up enough money to rent his own van when he was aged 18 and he now runs family ice cream business Mr Whippy Leeds.

His wife Tracy Tracy, 51, and daughters Leanne, 26, and Stephanie, 29, all work together in the business.

Mr Smith Jr runs four modern ice cream vans and three vintage vans, which date from 1957, 1959 and 1980.

He can often be found serving up ice cream from a van in Roundhay Park.

Grandfather-of-two Mr Smith Jr gives away more than 3,000 ice creams to Leeds schools each Children in Need day and raises around £2,000 for the charity in donations.

Mr Smith Jr's charity work has helped him win a place in the final three of the Mobiler of the Year competition, which is run by the Ice Cream Alliance UK and Ireland.

The final is at the Ice Cream Expo on February 11, 12 and 13 at the Yorkshire Event Centre on the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate.

Mr Smith Jr's father Ian Smith Sr, 71, who hails from Chapel Allerton, still works for himself and runs an ice cream van in Norfolk.

Mr Smith Jr said: "My dad used to be the manager for Mister Softee in Leeds.

"He managed a dozen ice cream vans at the Leeds depot in Burley Lodge Terrace off Burley Road from the early 1970s until the depot closed in the early 1980s.

"When I was three-years-old I was out on the van with dad on his rounds.

"In between his stops unbeknown to him I managed to climb inside the rear fridge and close the door behind me.

"It was panic stations, he thought I had fallen out of the serving window so doubled back until he heard me banging on the door."

Mr Smith said he still loves the ice cream business, adding: "You have got to be really passionate about it because if you're not you can't survive because it's such a seasonal job and you have more bad days than good days.

"Although it's a seasonal job, we still work if the weather lets us and there are people about."