Street traders 

What is street trading?

Street trading means the selling, exposing or offering for sale any article/goods (including a living thing) in a street, a street includes any outside area incorporating 

• any road, lay by, footway, beach or
• garden areas, forecourts and car parks to which the public have clear unobstructed access without payment.

All of the above include land which is privately owned too.

If you wish to sell goods in any area specified above within the East Riding of Yorkshire a consent will be required before you can trade.  

There are certain areas within the East Riding of Yorkshire that street trading is not permitted and no consent would be issued for. For full details see 'Where can I trade from?' 

It is an offence under Schedule 4, paragraph 10 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982. If a trader was prosecuted for trading without consent in place they could face a fine of up to £1000 for each time they are caught trading unlawfully.

When is consent not required to street trade?

Some types of trade are automatically legal and do not need a street trading consent to be in place.

These include:

• a person trading under the authority of a pedlars’ certificate granted under the Pedlars Act 1871
• trade carried out by roundsmen e.g. milkmen
• trade carried on at a petrol filling station
• a news vendor selling only newspapers and periodicals (subject to size restrictions on the stall/receptacle from which they operate)
• a market trader operating at a licensed market venue
• shop forecourts, only if any extension to shop's existing stock, and street collections
• areas to which there is no free access to the land/unit/stall.

If you require any further information on whether you may be exempt please contact either by:

Email:  licensing@eastriding.gov.uk

Also within the East Riding, we have chosen through our policy to exempt the following from the need for consent:

• Residents wishing to sell from the pavement outside their home address on a temporary basis such as honesty boxes or a one-off garage sale
• Some fetes, carnivals or similar community events, where the proceeds raised are for a charitable purpose only
• Individual car sales in a street, where it is not being done as part of a car business 
• One-off bake sales/fundraisers for charity such as Lifestyle where there is no personal or business gain. 

Where can I trade from?

The following streets and lay-bys are designated as prohibited streets within the East Riding and therefore no consents to trade will be issued for these.

A full list of all consents currently in force can be viewed on the document below:   

Street Trading Public Register (pdf 440kb)

The licensing team would not look to issue consents where the provision in that area are already met.  

It is an offence under Schedule 4, paragraph 10 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982. If a trader was prosecuted for trading without consent in place they could face a fine of up to £1000 for each time they are caught trading unlawfully.

Prohibited streets

1. A63 from the Hull City boundary to its junction with the M62

2. A165 Leven bypass from its junction with Catwick Lane, Brandesburton to its junction with the B1244/A1035

3. A1035 from its junction with the A165 westwards to Monk Dyke bridge

4. A1079 from the Hull City boundary to its junction with the A1035 York Road, Beverley

5. A15 Humber Bridge northern approach road

6. Carnaby Industrial Estate, Bridlington - all roads

7. A164 lay-by (near Lazatt restaurant) and existing north of Beverley turn-off

8. The foreshore/promenade areas in Bridlington and Hornsea - traders will need the written agreement of the Foreshores Inspector to use the land before any consent is granted. 
   

Transfers

A street trading consent cannot be transferred or sold to another person. The sub-letting of a pitch is prohibited.

You cannot trade until the consent has been issued. It is an offence to do so.

For more information on how the licensing authority enforces and regulates street trading please visit Who regulates and enforces street trading?

A tacit consent does not apply to this application, meaning that your application will not be automatically granted after a specified period of time. Each application must be considered on its own merit. 

Do I need consent for a market stall?

Yes

If you wish to provide a temporary market such as a pop-up food festival or a Christmas market, you will need a street trading consent.

You can apply for a special event consent that would cover all stalls at the temporary market, or you can apply for a consent for each individual stall.

If you are selling alcohol, you will also need to apply for a Temporary Events Notice.

No

If the market is a permanent, official market such as Beverley Saturday Market or Driffield market, a street trader consent is not required.

Read more about trading at a permanent market.

What should be considered before applying for consent?

 To avoid disappointment we recommend that anyone wishing to sell anything from an outside area, that the public has free access to, conducts some basic checks to establish what authorisations or permissions may be required before making a significant business investment, making any sales or setting up any site or stall.  

Can I apply for the area I want? 

Check to ensure the area you are considering is not prohibited or covered already by an existing consent/s. For prohibited streets and laybys see Where can I trade? and for a register of all current consents please view our public register below.

Is there a consent to cover my business idea?

Full information on the types of consent available are listed under What types of consent can I apply for?

Who owns the land? 

Check to see who owns the land, in all cases except for where the land is designated as highway you will also require landowners permission to trade from that land. If the land is privately owned, the owner of the land should seek advice from the planning team on whether the land holds the correct permissions to be used for street trading. 

Coastal areas – landowner permission

The majority of the coastal areas within the East Riding of Yorkshire are controlled by and under the management of, the Foreshores Inspector. If you are interested in trading from ANY shoreside or waterside location e.g. Bridlington or Hornsea beaches or promenades, Hessle shore/waterside car parks, you must contact the Foreshores Inspector to establish whose permission is required. 

The Foreshores Inspector can be contacted by email: foreshores@eastriding.gov.uk

Please note: written permission MUST be obtained before submitting an application to trade from an area controlled by the Foreshore Inspector.

Landowner permission – mobile trading 

If as the trader stops on the highway and customers leave the business premises to purchase food or drinks then individual landowner permission is not required, However, if the trader intends to stop in the car park, forecourt, or other privately owned area and serve/sell to customers off the highway, then permission is required from each premises the trader intends to visit. 

Public Protection – food services team

Businesses selling consumable products (e.g. hot and cold food or beverages) must be registered with the local authority in the area in which they are based and must have achieved a Food Hygiene Rating of 3 or above.

Before deciding to apply to operate a street trading business please contact our Food Services Team if you require to register as a food business. 

The Food Team can be contacted by email at: food.services@eastriding.gov.uk

Street trading policy and consent conditions

How East Riding of Yorkshire Council approaches and considers street trading applications and regulation is outlined in full in our policy as detailed below. This includes considerations would be in place for all applications. 

Street Trading and Collections Licensing Policy (pdf 295kb)

If a consent was successfully granted, it would be subject to conditions of operation, the conditions of the consent can also be seen in the policy, you would have to be able to adhere to the consent conditions. This pool of conditions is not exhaustive and specific conditions can be added to consents on a case by case basis. 

The sale of alcohol or late night refreshment

Under the Licensing Act 2003, alcohol cannot be sold from anywhere, or by any person, without a valid authorisation.

In relation to street trading, a temporary authorisation can be arranged through submitting a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).

A temporary event notice is a secondary permissions needed if you wish to sell alcohol in the street, on a stall/ bar to which the public have free access. 

Please note: statutory time limits exist for the submission of Temporary Event Notices, Ordinarily, 10 clear working days (Bank Holiday days do not count toward the 10 clear days) are required between submitting the TEN and the day the event is held on.

Late night refreshment is the provision of hot food or drinks after 23.00 hours, generally consents to street trade in the night economy are not permitted in the East Riding area. 

What types of consent can be applied for?

Full details of all consents types and their limitations can be seen in the street trading policy as detailed below:

Street trading policy (pdf 295kb)

Daily consent

If you wish to sell articles or good for a short period of time as a one-off, you can apply for a daily/occasional street trading consent.

These are £40 per day per trader.

Special event consent 

If you wish to provide a number of stalls, traders all in association with an event in the area, for example, a village fair then a special event consent can be applied for by the event organiser. The consents are available to cover a number of traders in bandings as below:

• Up to 10 stalls £70
• 11-24 trading stalls £130
• 25 trading stalls and over £190.

Static consents

If you wish to trade in a fixed location, whether that be for one hour/two hours or more you will require a static street trading consents, if you wanted to trade from more then one fixed location then you would require a separate static consent for each location. The only exception to this is multiple site consents as detailed below. 

A static consent can be applied to cover a year or a six month period:

• 1 Year static consent - £650
• 6 Months static consent £360.

Mobile consent 

If you wish to trade in the streets across areas of the East Riding, for example, an ice cream van, a mobile sandwich van or coffee van. Then a mobile street traders consent would be required. Landowners permission will also be required if the mobile route involves a stop on any private land. Mobile consents only permit the unit/vehicle to stop to trade for a short duration for the time in which you have a queue of customers to serve and after that should move on. The expected duration for each stop would not exceed 15 minutes. 

A mobile consent can be applied to cover a year or a six month period:

• 1 Year static consent - £650
• 6 Months static consent £360.

Multiple site consent

A multiple site consent permits a maximum of 5 specified locations with each site being permitted once within a week for a maximum duration of 3 hours. Multiple site consents are for hot food provision in areas such as villages:

• multiple site consents (a maximum of five fixed locations) £705 for an annual consent or £435 for a consent for up to six months.

How do I apply for a street trading consent?

How can I get help or advice on applying for a Street Trading Consent?

We appreciate that the application process is complex and may appear confusing if you've not applied for a consent before, therefore the licensing team offers a pre-application advice service. 

The cost of the service is £75 plus VAT and provides 1.5 hours with a Licensing Officer who will assist you with any aspect of the application process you need help with, which could include:

a)    understanding the legal process

b)    discussing and explaining the conditions and how they must be met

c)    explaining what a location or site plan must include

d)    making your application or

e)    any other relevant requirement relating to your application.

If you would like to arrange a pre-application advice appointment please email licensing@eastriding.gov.uk.  An officer will then be in contact with you to take payment of the fee and make an appointment for you at:

Council Offices
Cross Street
Beverley. 

Alternatively, payment can be made in person at any Council Customer Service Centre. 

Making an application

You can apply for a street trading consent using the online form below:

Apply for street trading consent 

Find your ordnance survey location

Applications for street trading consents can only be accepted from persons over 17-years-of-age.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council has a street trading policy, where it details our approach to licensing street traders and full requirements of the licensing authority.

Street trading policy (pdf 295kb)

For all application (excluding daily and special events consents) the following supporting documents are required to make a valid application:

• A site plan of the proposed locations/showing where the unit would be located 
• x 2 photographs of the unit to be licensed 
• Basic criminal record check (less than 8 weeks old) for the applicants and any staff proposed to work the unit 
• Public liability insurance (minimum of 2 million covering third and public liability risks) 
• Proof of right to work in the UK 
• A certified passport photograph of all parties to work in the unit (an additional charge of £52 is payable for each badge above the applicants) 
• Written proof of landowners permission (if applicable) 
• For food vendors - a level 2 food hygiene qualification and confirmation of a food hygiene rating of 3 stars or above.

• The written permission of the landowner ( for land, not highway) 
• Location plan and list of all stalls at the event and articles been sold 
• Public liability insurance  (minimum of £2 million covering third and public liability risks).

Tacit consent does not apply to these applications, meaning that your application will not be automatically granted after a specified period of time. Each application must be considered on its own merit.

Incomplete applications will not be processed and returned to you. 

Once your application is accepted as valid, the licensing team will fully assess your application against the requirements and policy considerations, which may include an inspection of the proposed site/s. 

Which street traders have been given consent to trade in the East Riding?

All licensed street traders are issued with a paper licence, this should be prominently displayed for members of the public to view.

All licensed street traders (except daily/occasional) will also display a pink/white plate which should also be prominently displayed for members of public to view.

This register shows all current street trading consents issued for trading within the East Riding district:

Public Register - Street trading consents (pdf 440kb)

This register was last updated on 24 June 2022

How do I apply to renew my street trading consent?

It is your responsibility to renew your consent. If a renewal application is not made then the consent will lapse and any application made will be dealt with as a new application and the trader will not be permitted to trade until the new consent is issued.

The easiest way to renew your street trading consent is to complete the online declaration form below, you will need to provide a new basic police check every third year and submit a new photograph every 5 years.

Apply to renew street trading consent 

If you no longer require your consent, you need to put this is writing to the licensing team:

Email: licensing@eastriding.gov.uk

You are also required to return the plate and paper consent, the plate remains the property of the council at all times.

A tacit consent does not apply to this application, meaning your application will not be automatically granted after a specified period of time. Each application must be considered on its own merit. 

How do I apply to change personal details on a street trading consent?

You can makes minor changes to the consent, for example of change of name, registered address of the consent holder.

Note: a change of name will require a deed poll certificate, court papers or a marriage certificate. 

Consents are not transferable to any other individual.

Email:  licensing@eastriding.gov.uk

A change of detail will cost £35 for the consent to be reissued.

Who regulates and enforces street traders?

The licensing team issue and enforce all consents for street trading including the investigation and prosecution of street traders without consents.

If you wish to report a street trader that you think may be trading without consent, you can email us: licensing@eastriding.gov.uk

Please provide as much information as possible when lodging concerns, to allow the matter to be investigated.

All consents issued are subject to conditions which have to be adhered to at all times.