The speed camera set up in 2009 along the St Paul’s Bay bypass had been torched. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

St Paul’s Bay residents are calling for a speed camera to be installed along the locality’s bypass, claiming the road has become dangerous and is being used as an illegal racetrack.

“We are fed up. Loud noise from speeding vehicles all night has become the norm. They race up and down, it happens nearly every day now,” said Alfred Vella, a frustrated resident who said he was frequently kept awake by what appeared to be illegal races.

The two-kilometre stretch attracts hoards of motorists who, with no speed camera in sight, relish the opportunity to put their pedal to the metal along the winding expressway.

In the past year, the police have received four reports of speeding along the arterial road. In all four investigations the perpetrator was the same person. The police did not reply to questions sent by this newspaper but Mr Vella said the road was frequently used by several serial speeders.

The bottom line is we are fed up, the bypass is not a racetrack

“They race each other up and down the road, groups of them. It’s not safe anymore,” said Mr Vella.

Former Transport Minister Ċensu Galea raised the issue during a session of parliamentary questions last week. “Doing nothing isn’t an option, residents are frustrated and people are getting hurt. The road needs monitoring,” Mr Galea told Times of Malta.

A speed camera was installed on the road back in 2009. However, several acts of vandalism came to a head when vandals doused the camera in lighter fuel and torched it a year later.

A few weeks later a motorcyclist was killed in a high-speed collision on the unmoni-tored road.

The driver, a father of two, smashed his Suzuki powerbike into another speeding motorcyclist. The bikes were described as “mangled and unrecognisable” by a witness.

Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said in reply to Mr Galea’s PQ the transport authority currently has seven pending requests for speed camera installations but the St Paul’s Bay bypass was not one of the proposed sites.

A Facebook group of St Paul’s Bay locals has become the main arena in which concerns about the road are voiced. Commenting on the group, resident Vladimir Cutajar said: “The bottom line is we are fed up, the bypass is not a racetrack.”

St Paul’s Bay mayor Mario Salerno said he had been inundated with complaints from residents who felt the road was proving to be a major inconvenience.

The road, however, does not fall under the council’s jurisdiction and Mr Salerno said he felt powerless to stop the dozens of motorists who frequent the road.

“All I can do is relay complaints to the police. Honestly, I don’t even think a camera would be enough at this point,” Mr Salerno said.

Questions sent to the transport authority remained unanswered by the time of going to print.