AN ice cream parlour is celebrating a trio of awards for its homemade artisan gelato.

Pinks Parlour in Waterloo Square, Bognor, scooped three awards at the National Ice Cream Championships.

Their Vegan Pina Colada and Pistachio flavours beat all competition in the most prestigious ice cream championships in the country, which has been running for 76 years.

Owner and founder Katy Alston said: “I’m so delighted to have won.

“When we first opened we could only offer ice lollies to our customers who were dairy intolerant - and now we have won an award for our Vegan Pina Colada.

“Bognor Regis is a wonderful place full of lovely people and we’re honoured to be making our wonderful homemade gelato ice cream for them.”

Katy's journey to becoming an ice cream maestro began twenty years ago when her husband Kevin surprised her with a present like no other – a clapped out ice cream van.

After renovating the van, Katy's daughter Georgia later joined the family business, and the Pinksfleet expanded to include two vintage style ice cream vans called Terence and Patsy and one traditional British 'Pashley' tricycle called Rosey.

Then in 2019 Katy decided to expand by opening her first parlour.

Having renovated a derelict building in Waterloo Square, she invested in the newest equipment to make the finest gelato ice cream and learned best practice and recipes from colleagues in the Ice Cream Alliance (ICA), the sector’s UK trade association, and her travels around Italy.

The parlour now sells a range of homemade gelato and sorbets, from the classic favourites to more unusual flavours, including blood orange, lemon drizzle, cherry delight and even Guinness ice cream.

All gelato is made on site using locally-sourced ingredients in the parlour's ice cream lab.

The National Ice Cream Championships are normally held at the Ice Cream and Artisan Food Show in Harrogate, with hundreds of products are submitted across thirteen categories - but the event could not go ahead in the same way this year, due to Covid-19.

Zelica Carr, chief excutive of the ICA, said: “Congratulations to Katy and her team. There was very stiff competition in all the categories so to win three times is a big achievement.

“The ICA decided that despite lockdowns and severe restrictions on trading, we needed to show our sector's resilience by continuing with these annual awards.”

Ice cream parlours and ice cream vans have been hard hit during Covid-19, losing a total of £289 million in income in 2020.

Ice cream sales in cafes, restaurants and hotels have also been significantly impacted too, with businesses along the supply chain affected, including manufacturers, flavour houses, wholesalers and others.

Pinks Parlour is participating in the ICA's Great British Ice Cream Staycation campaign to support ice cream sales in the hospitality sector.

The parlour is open every day from midday until 5pm. For more information, visit www.pinksparlour.co.uk