Leeds parents pay an average price of £2.86 for an iced treat

Leeds has been named the most expensive city in the UK for ice cream, according to a poll of parents.

Parents across the country will fork out almost £50 per child on ice creams over the summer holidays - with one in 10 paying as much as £4 a cone from an ice cream van.

A poll of 2,000 mums and dads of children aged four-16 found the average price of the classic frozen treat is now £2.65.

A new survey found that parents will fork out almost £50 per child on ice creams over the summer holidays | Adobe Stock

placeholder image — A new survey found that parents will fork out almost £50 per child on ice creams over the summer holidays | Adobe Stock

But with the average child tucking into three ice creams a week over the summer holidays, this amounts to a total of £47.70 over the six-week break.

Leeds came in as the most expensive city with an average price of £2.86, followed by London (£2.82), Bristol and Manchester (both £2.80).

But 18 per cent of those polled in Leeds say they pay at least £4 for an ice cream.

It emerged parents are feeling the pinch, with 85 per cent believing that paying 99p for a whippy ice cream is a thing of the past.

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In fact, one in three (30 per cent) admitted they’ve skipped buying an ice cream for themselves so their child could have one instead.

A quarter have even told their child that the ice cream van has run out of ice cream to avoid the expense.

The research was commissioned by Aldi, which surprised families this week with a ‘Summer Cool Down ice cream van’ in London, which gave out free ice creams.

The research also revealed the six-week break is expected to cost families an additional £200 on average compared to term time, and an extra £49 on weekly grocery bills.

Parents anticipate they'll spend an average of £134 on eating out, £105 on holiday clubs and £132 on tickets on day trips across the summer holidays, according to the OnePoll findings.

Top family excursions include going to the beach (68 per cent), the cinema (56 per cent) and the zoo (44 per cent).

MOST EXPENSIVE 99S ACROSS THE UK