Ice cream men across the country have been cashing in on this year's endless procession of heatwaves by charging up to £7 for classic 99s.Punters have blasted the 'extortionate' prices encountered at kiosks, cafes and ice cream vans - while industry figures blame the hikes on more expensive cream.With ice cream sales rocketing to £120million in June this year - almost double last year's figure - one might have expected vendors at least to keep prices steady. But one ice cream van man flogging Mr Whippy cones for up to £6.50 admitted: 'We've all put our prices up this year.'This means a family-of-four must now fork out up to £26 for a round of ice creams - with even the humble Fruit Pastille lolly coming in at almost a fiver.The Daily Mail ventured out on a 28C day in July to see the damage firsthand, and find out how the people of London reflect on the increasingly distant memory of a 99p Mr Whippy.King of the kiosks in the capital's Royal Parks is Colicci - an ice cream empire built up by Ernie Colicci after he moved over from Italy in the early 1980s.In Hyde Park, they run six permanent stations selling coffees, cakes, sandwiches and soft drinks, alongside ice cream - alongside three vintage ice cream trucks during the summer. This family from Canada decided to share just one ice cream between the three of them Barry Mason, 84, said he had seen the price of ice cream rise considerably over his life time Punters buying ice creams from the vans on Exhibition Road can pay more for a flake and sauces The cheapest Mr Whippy option from the Colicci kiosks in the Royal Parks has rised to £3.70 for a single scoop and no flakeOne young woman strolling by The Serpentine lake pleaded with her parents to get a round of ice creams - but after seeing the prices, the trio bought just one 99 between them.The mother said: 'We're from Canada and we get ice cream a lot, but it seems a little more expensive here.'We paid more than £4 for a single scoop with a flake. That's about the same figure as we'd pay in Canadian dollars back home, but the conversion rate is about half.'Husband and wife Pete, 75, and Di, 76, had travelled to London for the day from Reading to make the most of the warm weather.After scanning the menu at the Triangle kiosk by the North Serpentine Gallery, they went for packaged options instead - a Solero for her and a classic Magnum for him - but still found themselves paying top whack.Di told the Mail: 'It's absolutely extortionate, isn't it. You could get four from a supermarket for the same price. These are around a pound from a shop, but we've just paid £8 for two.'But it's what we expect from London, and it's not just ice cream - everything is going up.'You've also got to wonder how much they are paying to run this kiosk in such a prime spot.' Daily Mail reporter Patrick Harrington samples a double scoop with a flake from a kiosk in Hyde Park A single scoop of Mr Whippy-style ice cream in a cone consistently costs more than £4 from central London vans The most expensive ice cream sold in a cone from the Royal Park kiosks is a double scoop of gelato at £6.10