Ice-cream turf wars

UNDER attack . . . Iftikhar Ahmed (left) and Eajaz Azam

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TWO business men say they fear for their lives claiming they have been attacked and threatened by what they describe as Oldham's "ice-cream mafia".

Ice-cream van operators Eajaz Azam (30) and Iftikhar Ahmed (39), both from Clarksfield, say they and their families are going through a living hell following a series of incidents over the last few months.

Eajaz says after being threatened and followed during his rounds in April a masked gang armed with hammers attacked him and smashed up his van in Trafalgar Street which only stopped when an onlooker called police.

He said he was also beaten with sticks and punched by a gang who surrounded his van while he was working in Chadderton three weeks later.

In May, Iftikhar an alleged arson attack destroyed his newly bought ice-cream van outside his home in Clarksfield Road just minutes after his two young children had been inside helping him clean it.

The incident was captured on his CCTV camera and shows several men approach his van and smash a window. One then climbs inside and they then appear to set fire to it before fleeing.

Iftikhar says he passed the footage to police but no action was taken. Eajaz said police investigated the attack on Trafalgar Street but no arrests were made.

The pair say they are so terrified they don't want to publicly name the people they believe are behind a "turf war" for fear of reprisals.

Both say they have official permits from Oldham Council to sell ice-cream which allows them to operate anywhere within the borough.

But they say others object to rival vans and use heavy-handed tactics to monopolise the market.

Eajaz says he and his family live with the fear of what might happen every day.

"I am very worried for myself and my family," said the father-of-three.

"Every night we keep awake, we do not sleep because we fear for our lives.

"I was sitting in the barbers having my hair cut and a man came in and asked me my name. When I told him he said people were hunting for me and would not let me work. There were threats to blow up my van and my house.

"We've had to install CCTV just to try and feel safe.

"I get verbal threats when I'm out in my van. Other vans come alongside me and cars follow me.

"It's terrible. I am scared. I'm just trying to do my job and make money for my family to live. They are trying to put me out of business. The police say they can't do anything."

Iftikhar says the arson attack has left his children traumatised and frightened to leave the house.

"Five minutes before it happened my six and three-year-old children were in there helping me clean," said Iftikhar, who has three youngsters.

"They wanted to stay in the van but I said no. Thank goodness I did as it was on fire minutes later.

"Someone smashed the window and poured petrol in. I'd only just bought the van.

"I passed CCTV on to police but no action has been taken.

"My kids don't want to go out of the front door anymore. My six-year-old daughter saw it happen.

"We have permits, we are doing everything legally. I have to work. We're not doing anything wrong. We're not selling on the same the streets, but they won't leave us alone."

A spokesman for Oldham Council said: "We're aware of the issue and are meeting with ice-cream companies."

We approached Greater Manchester Police to respond to the attacks in Trafalgar Street and Clarksfield Road.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said investigations had been launched in both the Trafalgar Street and Clarksfield Road incidents but no arrests were made.

She said: "Greater Manchester Police received a report at 4.30pm, on April 22, of a robbery at an ice-cream van, in Trafalgar Street.

"Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact police on 101.

"Police received a report on May 22 at about 4.30pm that someone had approached an ice-cream van on Clarksfield Road and smashed the window before setting fire to an item and throwing it into the van, which was damaged extensively."