MORE than 1,250 dessert lovers queued for ice-cream in Worcester on Sunday - but the vendor was illegally trading without a licence.

Facebook phenomenon Mr Tee King of Desserts set up two vans on Ravenmeadow, Droitwich Road between 2.30 and 10.30pm, with many customers queuing for at least an hour to be served.

Entrepreneur Tee Smith, who sells ice cream and other desserts from a van, claims he applied for an annual licence from the city council, costing £875, two weeks ago but the earliest appointment he could get was at 1.30pm this Thursday, March 29 at The Hive.

It is the second time the business has traded in the city and Mr Smith said 1,250 customers were there.

Mr Smith said: “We were parked 50 metres away from the public highway on private property with the permission of the land owner. We are immensely popular, for this reason we are hated by fellow tradesmen.”

Once the licence is obtained the business is set to trade in the city twice a week.

He said they would then be entitled to park up on any street without double yellow lines but he would rather trade on private land as it is “safer.”

Speaking on the licence breach, Dean Clarke, who runs Dean’s Ices in Worcester, said: “If he was conflicting with my trade – when I had actually paid for a licence I would be very worried about it. He seems to be getting his own trade using social media. His ice cream isn’t better but he is using Facebook to make it into an event.”

Visitors posted about their ‘Mr Tee’ experience on the Worcester News Facebook page.

Soph Brown said: “Amazing - worth the wait” and Kim Wood said: “My kids loved the ice cream.”

But Karen Watkins said: “Not worth the wait in the freezing cold but like everyone else it’s an experience to try it.”

Mr Tee King of Desserts, originally from Bolton, has been operating for three years and has more than 98,000 likes on Facebook.

More than 2,000 people, some who queued for hours, turned out to buy treats from Mr Tee when he last came to Droitwich two weeks ago. He previously visited Worcester last month.

He surprises locals by only letting them know the location 30 minutes before arriving.

A city council spokesman said: “Mr Tee does not have a licence with Worcestershire Regulatory Services. They will be contacting him to discuss arrangements.”

He added traders selling to the public in a temporary location need a temporary street trading licence and, if on private land, need written confirmation from the landowner.