An independent Edinburgh ice cream kiosk has been forced to close as the ongoing refuse worker strikes hit businesses.
Overlangshaw Ice Cream, an independent dairy farm near Galashiels, supplies restaurants across the capital as well as selling it from their kiosk at the bottom of Victoria Street. However, as the ongoing refuse worker strike continues to see rubbish pile up in the streets, they have been forced to close as the foul smell drives away their customers.
They closed their kiosk on Tuesday morning after the piles of rubbish scattered throughout the city drove away their customers and created a foul smell that was unbearable to work in. According to Lucy Bergius, one of the owners of Overlangshaw Ice Cream, they were worried that it would be unsafe for their workers to sell food from the kiosk.
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According to Lucy, the closure will put a strain on the business. The three weeks of the Fringe are their busiest of the year and keeps them going through the winter months when they keep the kiosk closed.
She said that the area around the kiosk was covered in flies and wasps and there was evidence of rats getting at the refuse. The worry for them is that the situation will continue long after the strike is over and it will take the council time to clean up the accumulated rubbish- time they will have to stay closed for.
We spoke to Lucy, who said: “We were up there on Monday at the start of the bins getting bad. The smell is bad, you can smell them from inside the kiosk. It’s really off putting, we weren’t getting customers and we thought it was unsafe.
“There’s flies, wasps and rats. It’s really gross. No one wants to eat ice cream around that. It was an easy decision to make because we couldn’t stay open. Obviously we are missing out on a lot of revenue, this is one our busiest weeks for us.
“I have written letters to the council and MSPs but I haven’t had a response. I just think it shouldn’t get to this stage. The council shouldn’t have let it get to this point and should’ve given the workers what they deserve.
"It’s massively affected us. These three weeks are our busiest of the whole year and we close the box during the winter. We rely on these weeks to keep us going for the winter. I have staff who were meant to be there this week and aren’t so it’s affecting them too.”
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