"I've never got over the joy of holding out an ice cream. When you see a child with their clenched fists jumping up and down and with a big smile on their face; to do that as your business is something special."

Mark Ellinor enjoys his job. Enjoys the happiness it brings both he and his customers. But then he is your classic ice cream van man.

For nigh on 20 years he has been serving up calorie-packed treats at events across not only Kent but the whole of the country.

His Rainham-based family-run business - Ellinor's Ice Cream - has a fleet of six vans all of which provide the spark of joy when spotted in both the young and young-at-heart.

But what is life like for the man behind the counter of everyone's favourite summertime treat?

Well, for the last 12 months it has been one of considerable change as the lockdowns robbed us of so many days out.

Did you know, though, that the pandemic has also claimed one overlooked casualty - the humble ice cream cone. Temporarily at least.

"We felt that when you hand the cone out, it doesn't matter how much you try not to, you brush hands," explains the company boss who turns 58 this year.

"You can sterilise all day but there will be that time when you touch something else.

"It's keeping our customers and ourselves safe. When you're touching 200 to 300 hands a day, you only have to make one mistake.

"So we decided as part of our own review into Covid safety we would completely change our menus to tubs only - so no cones. And we're still doing that at the moment."

The good news, though, is that it will make a return - eventually.

"People love the cones - and especially the waffle ones," Mark reflects. "We'll return to that, but the pandemic hasn't gone away so we'll keep all that we've implemented. I can't see a return to products like that until everyone's had the vaccine to be honest."

It's certainly been an odd 12 months.

The pandemic put paid to all his company's big money-making events on the corporate and events circuit - the revenues which support him through the months when our appetite for ice cream is replaced by a need to keep warm.

The ice cream season generally extends from the first bright days of the spring until the late autumn - with Halloween and Bonfire Night heralding the lights going off in the vans.

Each ice cream van must have an appropriate licence to operate on the street from each local authority area in which they want to start selling their wares. So having a street trader licence for Medway doesn't give you access to the sunny streets of Margate, for example. The licence will require you to be checked by environmental health officers and all necessary hygiene certificates to be in place.

Additional measures the firm has taken include the installation of 'sneeze screens' between customers and staff.

Explains Mark: "So now there are just little holes to speak to and a small gap at the bottom to pass the product through. And we're contactless payments only."

It does present some problems though.

"It makes it quite hard to hear customers, which wasn't a problem before," he explains. "The ice cream machine makes a noise so it brings some challenges to it."

Mark adds: "Being behind the counter is a lot harder than a lot of people realise. It's not just about serving ice cream.

"It can be very hot and stressful - especially when you know you have a big queue in front of the van. And it's continuous - you just don't get a break at all.

"You can stand upright in the vans, but obviously you're leaning into the ice cream machine quite a bit which doesn't help your back, but that's one of those things.

"What many don't realise is the cleaning involved before and after.

"The ice cream machine comes apart in about 35 pieces and that has to be put together in the morning and completely taken apart and cleaned every night.

"Then the sterilisation and hygiene of all the van - from work surfaces down to the floor and regular maintenance. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes than the person just standing at the window who serves you that ice cream."

It can be a long day too.

"Normally if we've been hired, a well-run event will want you there an hour to 90 minutes early so there's no vehicle movement when the public are there," explains Mark.

"Most of the time you're usually doing 11 until 4 or 5. "

And how many ice creams would you expect to sell in a day? "How long is a piece of string," quips Mark, adding: "It depends on the weather, the area; there are so many factors."

While his wife and family are all involved in the business now too, Mark's background had a vehicle theme - but little else to suggest he was about to turn to ice cream.

"I was in the transport industry for 30 odd years," he explains. "I was working for Pfizer running all their green transport policy for them. I was going round the M25 at 5am and again at 9pm and stressed at the weekend. My wife just said if I didn't do something else, I'd be dead in a few years.

"She mentioned that the husband of a friend of hers worked an ice cream van and made a reasonable living and it planted the seed.

"So I sold my new car and had a go.

"My colleagues were surprised when I told them - but the weight on my shoulders when I got out of the corporate world was incredible. Pfizer was a great employer, but it was the right choice for me."

For those curious, according to the Nationwide Caterers' Association, a brand new ice cream van will set you back around £60,000 - a five-year-old model a more modest £12,000. And while it points out profit margins can be good and you have the rare ability to go just where the customers are, Britain's sometimes suspect summer weather can hit all your best laid plans for six.

'If Just Eat and Deliveroo has taught us anything, it is that the public want what they want when they want it...'

During the lockdown - which must have been akin to a huge 12-month long wet summer - Mark Ellinor diversified. Rather than simply stop and serve, his operation created a host of gourmet desserts, marketed through the company’s Facebook site, which it has been delivering within a five-mile radius of its Rainham base.

"If Just Eat and Deliveroo has taught us anything," he explains, "it is that the public want what they want when they want it."

So the lucky folk of Medway have been able to have sundaes and waffles delivered direct to their door - and the chances are it could be a trend which continues. Ellinor's has even rolled out a bespoke range of desserts to an Indian restaurant in Medway which has proved a big hit.

But for many, the main delight is hearing the distinctive chimes of an ice cream van while on a hot day at the beach or park - the perfect complement to a classic British day out.

"Ice creams do bring a smile," concludes Mark, "it's like chocolate, it's those endorphins isn't it?

"It creates a feel-good factor."

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