Run a food truck, burger van or coffee van

Check this guide covers you

This guide is for you if you sell food or drink from a self-propelled van or a towed trailer. It does not cover market stalls or food made in a home kitchen. Those have their own rules.

The main sections cover England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own section near the end, because the rules differ.

There is no single food van licence. Most vans need 4 things:

• registration of the van as a food business with the council where it is kept
• permission to stand on each pitch
• a Gas Safe registered engineer for the LPG system
• motor insurance that covers business use

If you sell hot food or drink from a parked van late at night, the pitch usually also needs late-night refreshment authorisation, unless the council has exempted it. Ask before you pay for a pitch.

Work through these steps in order:

Register the van with the council where it is kept

A food van or trailer is a food business. You register it with the council where the van is normally kept. The Food Standards Agency tells councils not to ask you to register again in each area where you sell. A separate fixed kitchen or store is registered with its own council.

The general registration process and food safety rules are in Register and run a food business.

Find a pitch where you can sell

Where you can sell depends on who controls the ground. Only the council and the landowner can confirm that a pitch is lawful.

Streets and other public land

Street trading rules apply only where the district council has adopted them and designated the street. Some areas, including London boroughs, run their own scheme under a local Act. Ask the council in each area where you want to trade. Fees and timescales are set by each council.

If the council grants a consent, read it for van permission before you buy the pitch. A consent that does not mention vans does not let you trade from one.

Lay-bys and roadside pitches

The highway authority controls stopping and obstruction on its roads. A roadside sales control order blocks a licence or consent on that road. Highway authorities treat catering vans differently, so ask the highway authority and the district council separately.

Private land and events

On private land you need the landowner's permission. Ask the council planning team whether you need planning permission, especially if the van will stand in the same place regularly.

At an organised event or market, the organiser's permission usually covers you, because a market or fair held by grant or enactment is not street trading. You still need your food registration. A Temporary Event Notice covers licensable activities such as alcohol and late-night refreshment. It is not needed for daytime food sales.

Make the LPG system safe

Gas work on a catering van must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. This covers installation, commissioning, inspection and maintenance. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) points to guidance from the Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS) on installing LPG equipment in catering trailers and converted vehicles.

Whoever changes a cylinder or hose must be competent. A towed trailer is not a self-propelled vehicle, and the box below explains what that means for the gas regulations. Ask your engineer to confirm how the rules apply to your unit.

GOV.UK says you must carry out a fire risk assessment for a food business. Do one for your van.

Meet the water, waste and hygiene rules

Food hygiene law treats a van as movable premises. It needs hand washing facilities, drinking water, ways to clean equipment and safe waste disposal. The law sets no minimum tank size, so ask your council what it expects for your menu.

England's workplace recycling rules require you to separate dry recycling, food waste and other waste. The box gives the in-force date and the confirmed later date for micro-firms. Use a registered waste carrier. GOV.UK says you must register as a waste carrier yourself if you take your own waste for disposal regularly.

After registration, the council inspects your van and gives it a food hygiene rating. You do not apply for one. Allergen rules apply to a van as to any food business. See Allergen requirements and the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.

Insure and maintain the vehicle

You must have motor insurance to use a van on a road. Tell your insurer the van is used for business, because it affects the policy. GOV.UK does not list public liability insurance as a legal requirement for a food van, but councils and event organisers often ask for it as a condition of a pitch. If you employ anyone, employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement unless an exemption applies. GOV.UK lists employing only close family members as one.

The second box below covers several kinds of insurance. For a food van, the employers' liability and motor rows apply.

Check that your driving licence covers the weight of the van or the trailer you tow. GOV.UK explains the limits on its Driving a van page.

The wider rules for running a van are in Van operator compliance. If you drive into a clean air zone, check whether it charges for your van. See Clean air zones and goods vehicles.

Selling hot food or drink late at night

In England and Wales, a parked van is treated as premises at that pitch, so the authorisation belongs to the pitch, not to your van. Each pitch where you trade late needs its own authorisation. A moving van is exempt.

Ask the licensing team for each area whether it has exempted your pitch or your hours. If not, a regular pitch needs a premises licence and a one-off event can use a Temporary Event Notice. If you sell no alcohol, ask what the premises licence requires of you. For England and Wales, the general rules are in Late-night refreshment licence. Scotland has its own rules, covered below.

Wales

Street trading, late-night refreshment, gas safety and MOT rules are the same in Wales as in England. The main difference is that you must display your food hygiene rating in Wales, and not doing so is an offence. Businesses that supply other businesses are also rated.

Ask your council where a mobile unit registers in Wales, and what the Welsh recycling rules require. This guide has not checked either.

Scotland

The 1982 street trading Act for England and Wales does not apply in Scotland. Where your council has resolved to require them, you need a street trader's licence from the council to sell from a vehicle. The council must refuse a food application unless you have a food authority certificate. Where your council has resolved to require one, selling food between 11pm and 5am may also need a late hours catering licence. This guide could not confirm whether that licence covers a parked vehicle, so ask your council. Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme, not the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.

Northern Ireland

The 1982 street trading Act does not apply in Northern Ireland. The council issues street trading licences, and you must display your food hygiene rating. Northern Ireland has its own gas safety regulations. This guide has not researched late-night food licensing, mobile registration or vehicle rules there, so ask your council or the vehicle authority.

Plan your next step

Ask the council for your first pitch whether street trading rules apply there. Register the van with the council where it is kept. Book the Gas Safe engineer and your insurer while you wait for answers. Do not buy a pitch or a fit-out until you have the pitch rules in writing.

Who to ask

• for food registration, your hygiene rating and inspections: the environmental health team at the council where the van is kept. Find your local council
• for street trading and late-night authorisation: the licensing team at the council for each pitch
• for lay-bys and roadside pitches: the highway authority (county council, unitary council or National Highways)
• for private land: the landowner and the council planning team
• for gas: a Gas Safe registered engineer, or the HSE contact page. For trailers, the trade body NCASS