It has not happened to me because I don't drive. It has happened to some of my friends and to many others who drive up South Street, Valletta, trying to proceed past the Auberge de Castille. Road signs in South Street very clearly indicate that one can proceed towards and eventually past the auberge.

Drivers follow signs which make them think they have clear passage and one such sign is by the church of St Catherine of Italy. The unwary are caught in flagrante, often have to be lectured and admonished by the police and get booked and eventually have to pay a fine of €46.

Quite apart from this, there are those small bollards blocking 'unauthorised' access to Castille Place which have been damaged by unsuspicious drivers who in the process damage their own cars. Just why is this allowed to happen? Why cannot those responsible for road signs indicate clearly what should be done and provide adequate directions to guide cars leaving Valletta from that area?

On more than one occasion I have seen a series of cars trying to take this way out of the city only to be bagged by the policeman on duty outside the Auberge.

The irony of it all, and in order to rub salt deeper in the wounds of the booked motorists, the misleading signs are right under the noses of those who happen to man Valletta's police station.