IT'S as English as cricket on a Sunday afternoon. The image of the ice cream van in the park dishing out Orange Maids or '99s on a summer's day.

For years the menus haven't changed - a lolly, a cone, maybe some strawberry sauce and a bottle of pop and that was your lot.

But in Southampton political correctness has taken a new twist - or should that be twister.

Labour chiefs are calling for a spicy new menu to be painted alongside the traditional rocket lollies and ice cream wafers, offering up hot samosas, onion bhajis and curry.

Leisure boss Julian Price believes vans should offer ethnic foods to reflect the city's multi-ethnic population.

"We are a multi-ethnic city and it's a question of what people expect. There is no need for people to jump up and down about it."

But traders are already furious. The council is advertising for one operator to take over all the spots in the parks worked by individual vans, many of whom have been making their rounds in the city's parks and Common for years. For trader's spokesman Alan Wilde, it's a family tradition. His grandfather worked a van in the parks after the war.

He said the latest suggestion was "ridiculous". "Serving up other food isn't practical, we can't keep hot food next to ice cream. It's political correctness gone mad."

And not only do politicians want ethnic hot foods - they are fed up of the traditional white vanilla ice cream.

"We need more flavours, more diversity in our ice creams," said councillor Price.

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