Sir Keir Starmer had a brush with the law while selling ice creams as part of a student summer holiday business venture that proved not to be legal, according to a friend.

The Labour leader, a former director of public prosecutions, is said to have had his “ice-creams confiscated” by police while touting for trade on beaches in the French Riviera during his university years.

John Murray, a university friend of Sir Keir, said the pair, along with other acquaintances, travelled to the south of France as students after seeing an advertisement claiming they could earn hundreds of pounds per day selling cold refreshments on the French Riviera.

Mr Murray told Politico’s Westminster Insider podcast their experience did not live up to the billing, spending their time “almost as beach bums” and making about “four francs a day” from their small business.

I think he probably had his ice-creams confiscated

During their stay in the picturesque region, he said the friends discovered the trade was “not legal”, meaning they were forced to dodge French authorities while selling their cold wares.

Mr Murray said: “The place was overrun with other beach sellers, because they’d all been suckered into thinking they’d earn hundreds of pounds a day.

“Then we found out it was actually not legal, so we spent our time kind of avoiding being arrested.

“To be honest, I did get arrested. But all that happened was you had your ice creams confiscated, got a receipt, then had to walk back to the beach without your flip flops.”

When asked if Sir Keir had also been detained, Mr Murray said: “I can’t say … I think he probably had his ice-creams confiscated.”

A Labour spokeswoman said: “We are happy to make clear that no arrests were made, or even names taken, and that the only loss of liberty occurred to some cut-price ice-creams.”