The court case of the five campers may have been concluded but the controversy has not, though they may soon have to pack and leave the site.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has issued an enforcement notice ordering tents and caravans out, with a spokesman explaining that the campers would have to “leave the site as soon as possible”.

Protest organiser Leslie Pavia welcomed Mepa’s decision with caustic sarcasm.

“It’s about time. Perhaps they hadn’t realised the tents were there. I’ve been speaking about the issue for more than two months now,” Mr Pavia said.

He said the authorities seemed more eager to pass the buck than take action. “The local council said it needs a by-law to intervene. Sanitation authorities said they had passed it on to the police. The police told me it was Mepa’s job to enforce. It just goes round and round. These authorities need much better coordination among themselves.”

Malta has just one official campsite, a 12-acre stretch of land in Mellieħa. Camping anywhere else is technically illegal. This state of affairs was causing friction, Mr Pavia said. “You can’t expect people to buy camping gear or campervans but then not to use them.”

As long as southerners continued to be denied an adequate camping site, they would continue to flock to areas such as Tal-Magħluq, he argued.

A Mepa spokesman was keen to point out that local councils could apply for areas to be turned into temporary campsites for the summer months provided they could guarantee that waste and litter would be disposed of satisfactorily.