MaltaTicket.com said it will be taking legal action against Heritage Malta following its claims yesterday that it had issued unauthorised tickets for the hypogeum.

In a statement, the company said it was merely the infrastructure provider for Heritage Malta and all tickets issued through its system were via links from Heritage Malta's own website. These tickets were sold directly and legally by Heritage Malta, and a fiscal receipt against Heritage Malta's own VAT number was issued. It called on the relevant authorities to ensure that Heritage Malta honoured its legal obligations to purchasers of its tickets.

Heritage Malta's claims, the company said, were "without a moral compass".

It said it was disappointed that in such challenging times for the tourism product in Malta, an agency which should be promoting a positive image for Malta was instead playing games with tourists and creating a negative image for the country.

It said Heritage Malta had blatantly breached its contract with MaltaTicket.com, and the company was proceeding legally against the agency for damages.

"But for Heritage Malta to further threaten to breach its contracts with tourists is even more outrageous," it said.

The company stated that it would stand squarely with consumers who purchased hypogeum tickets from Heritage Malta via the MaltaTicket.com system.

Any tourist denied admission by Heritage Malta on the date of their ticket should contact MaltaTicket.com via email info@MaltaTicket.com.

They will be asked to sign a declaration that they were denied admission and an assignment of their claim for breach of contract - they will then be paid full value without prejudice by MaltaTicket.com which would seek to recover such claims from Heritage Malta through legal action.

The company expressed regret for any inconvenience caused by the actions of Heritage Malta.