The Glasgow Ice Cream Wars were conflicts in the East End of Glasgow in Scotland in the 1980s between rival ice cream van operators over lucrative territory…The conflicts, in which vendors raided one another’s vans and fired shotguns into one another’s windscreens, were more violent than might typically be expected between ice-cream salesmen.
Superficially, the violence appeared disproportionate, and the situation appeared farcical, with officers of the Strathclyde Police detailed to follow ice-cream vans around on their runs, causing locals to nickname them the “serious chimes squad”.
