Street trading consent

If you wish to trade within the borough, you need street trading consent. It is an offence to trade without proper consent.

To sell or offer for sale any article (including a living thing) in any street, you need to apply for consent. Street means any road, footway or other area including private land the public have access to without payment.

Please read the Street trading procedural guidance before applying for a consent.

We have adopted the relevant provisions of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 to control street trading and prevent potential problems.

If you hold a pedlar's certificate under the Pedlars Act 1871 and are acting as a pedlar, you are not covered by this legislation.

How to apply

You must be 17 or over to apply.

Each type of consent requires certain supporting documents. Before you apply you need to read the procedural guidance and may need:

a passport style photograph of the applicant and any assistants (not required for Temporary Event Street Trading Consent)
a Basic Disclosure Certificate (DBS) not more than 6 month old (not required for Temporary Event Street Trading Consent)
where food or drink will be sold a copy of the Food Hygiene Certificate (not required for Temporary Event Street Trading Consent)
proof of Right to Work (not required for Temporary Event Street Trading Consent)
photographs of the location you wish to trade
a copy of a map clearly identifies the proposed site position by marking the site boundary with a red line
three colour photographs (front, back and side views) of the stall, van, barrow, cart etc that will be used (not required for Temporary Event Street Trading Consent)
permission from the landowner if private land
the application fee

Use our online form to apply for a temporary event street trading consent for multiple commercial traders at a temporary fixed site event for up to 72 hours, such as temporary markets and events.

Apply for a temporary event street trading consent

Use our online form to apply for a street trading consent which includes:

annual fixed site consent - an individual trader at a fixed annual site for example food vans at fixed locations
annual roaming consent - an individual trader with Borough wide consent when a schedule of stops or locations, stops are for no more than 20 minutes at a time, and no location is revisited within a 4 hour period, for example roaming ice cream or food vans with short stops at multiple locations
annual mobile multi site consent - an individual trader with site specific consent when a schedule of locations is included with the application, stops are longer than 20 minutes at a time for example coffee or food vans with longer stops at multiple locations

Apply for a street trading consent

Public Notice

After you have applied, you should display a public notice at the location you wish to trade for 14 days to give people the opportunity to comment before the consultation closing date.

You also need to deliver notices to existing businesses trading in similar commodities and the closes premises including residential and commercial. Further information is included in the procedural guidance.

The public notice must be:

in a place clearly visible to the public
A4 size or larger
completed legibly in black ink

Use our Public Notice template (PDF) [124KB] to ensure you include all the information needed.

What happens next?

The consultation process will only start when all the required documents and the application fee is received.

The following matters will be taken into consideration:

the articles you want to sell
the location you want to trade
the times and dates you want to trade
any other relevant circumstance

We aim to complete your application process within 14 working days, however this may take longer if representations are received or further information is required. If the application is refused you will be informed within 21 days of the decision.

If successful, you will be granted a street trading consent for up to 12 months but it can be revoked at any time.

Tacit consent

Tacit consent does not apply in respect of these applications.

Tacit consent means that if we have not dealt with licence applications within the target period then the application can be deemed to have been granted or approved.

It is in the public interest that we process your application before it can be granted.

If you have not heard from us within 10 working days, contact us on 01642 524802 or licensing@stockton.gov.uk.

Refusals

If we refuse your application, you may be able to appeal this decision to the Magistrates' Court or First-Tier Tribunal.

Full details will be included in any refusal notice.

Contact us

Contact the Licensing Team for advice or to make a complaint about a licensed business.

Phone: 01642 524802

Email: licensing@stockton.gov.uk