Updated 6.44pm

The Environmental Health Department said this evening that Pretty Bay in Birzebbuga will continue to be closed for bathing until tests in the wake of last Friday's chemical spill are completed.

The notice was issued at 6.30pm - after dozens of people who had swam in the bay were returning home.

Earlier in the day Times of Malta reported how no one - not even Tourism Ministry officials and lifeguards - knew whether it was safe to swim there.

The Environmental Health Department said the waters of the bay were being monitored and samples had been taken for tests.  

Earlier today, beach officials from the Tourism Ministry, tasked with observing the area and handing out information leaflets on jellyfish and water currents, said they did not know whether the beach was safe to swim in or not. 

The beach was closed by the Civil Protection Department on Friday after a container carrying chemicals in the nearby Freeport started leaking into the sea. CPD officials carried out cleaning operations on the beach which was covered in a thin layer of oily liquid.

Although it has the authority to close the beach, the CPD cannot reopen it- a responsibility that rests with the Environmental Health Department. 

Meanwhile, bathers expressed concerns at the lack of information.

Jonathon Vassallo, who was at the beach with his wife and children said he had no idea the beach had been contaminated.

Video prepared before the Environmental Health Department said the bay is still closed.