IT'S a scoop... the most famous ice-cream business in our region is up for sale.

Appleby's Ices of Conisholme – an essential ingredient of growing up for thousands – has been put on the market by owner Jill Muldoon.

She is planning to retire from the business which has been run by the Appleby family for nearly a century.

Their mobile ice-cream vans are landmarks in the countryside and the parlour at Conisholme has been a popular stop-off for generations of day-trippers heading to and from the coast.

Mrs Muldoon's grandfather, William Appleby, who owned the village store, began Appleby's Ices in 1913 by mixing ice-cream by hand in a barrel until he found the perfect recipe.

She said: "We have been selling ice cream on exactly the same site since 1913 when grandfather William would do anything to get more trade in.

"He began mixing ice-cream on a paraffin stove, found the perfect mix and then expanded into a wagon shed, turning it into an ice-cream factory."

The family business survived two world wars and several recessions thanks to the astute business sense of Mrs Muldoon's parents, Ronald and Josephine Appleby. Mrs Muldoon took over in 1980 and now it serves meals as well as Italian coffee.

She said: "I am looking to retire. We have had the business on the market for some time and the likelihood of being able to sell it straight away in this climate means I don't expect to be retiring soon."

The firm employs a core staff of five, who are preparing for the holiday season, when up to 25 staff are employed.

Mrs Muldoon hopes whoever takes over will keep the Appleby name, as Birmingham-based Bowen Travel Group did when it bought coach firm RW Appleby Ltd – which belonged to Mrs Muldoon's late brother, Stuart Appleby.

The well-known coach company was set up by Mrs Muldoon's father, who died in 2001 aged 88. Bowen Travel Group acquired it in October 2000.

For more information about the sale of Appleby's Ices, visit www.jhwalter.co.uk