Rome gelateria defends ice cream prices Roger Bannister, his brother Stephen and their wives Wendy and Joyce, from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, were taken aback when they were charged 64 euros for the four ice creams they had ordered on the last day of their holiday in Rome. But in the newspaper ads, the owners of the gelateria insisted that the prices were fair because the ice creams were large, with each containing around 700g of gelato. "In our gelateria we also sell cones for 2.50 euros but the tourists from Birmingham preferred to choose another type, which come with a big wafer, have special ingredients and contain 700 grams of gelato," the managers said. The gelateria claimed it served up only the finest ingredients "and for this reason our business has grown, year after year, notwithstanding the economic crisis." Its most expensive ice creams cost 25 euros, with whipped cream an extra 3.50 euros. The British tourists, meanwhile, have accepted the offer of a free trip back to Rome later this month. The offer was made by Gianni Alemanno, the city's mayor, who has apologised to them for the prices they were charged. "They are going to take us round Rome and show us a few sights," Mr Bannister, 58, the owner of an engineering firm, said. If they want us to go back to the gelateria then fine, I have no problem with that. We will be meeting the mayor as well. We liked Rome very much - in general people did their best to please.