My leisurely drive one evening was interrupted by two wardens in Triq J.F. Kennedy, St Paul’s Bay. They informed me that my left turn into this road from Kennedy Drive was prohibited due to a no-left-turn sign at the start of the road.

I replied that the sign was not placed in advance of the turning and that another road sign instructs drivers to turn into this road for getting to the ‘Leap Centre’, as shown in the picture.

Upon hearing this, one of the wardens boasted, in a hostile manner, about his knowledge of the law and told me that I should not have said anything back to him. The second warden urged me to apologise to the other warden so that they would not book me.

After further retorts between us and my eventual apology and the shaking of hands in the hope of an amicable conclusion, the first warden thought it wise to warn me that he could issue so many charges against me I had better keep my place.

I refered this warden to the law in question which states that prohibitory signs “prohibit traffic from turning to the left, or to the right as the case may be, and are placed slightly in advance of the turning”.

I do not take kindly to anyone who abuses his position to intimi­date others and coerces them into apologising for no good reason. Additionally, conflicting road signs coupled with ineffectual law enforcement officers are an embarrassment to whoever is in charge of the whole set-up.

For clarity’s sake, my delay in writing about this was to give the Local Enforcement System Agency sufficient time to deal with a complaint which I had filed with it a few days after the incident. This has remained unanswered bar for a short notice stating that they would look into the matter.

In conclusion, I would like to reaffirm that my regret was not about my driving conduct but in succumbing to this warden’s pressure. It is the wardens who should have had the decency of reali­sing their mistake and the ridiculous scene they were making.

I hereby retract my apology to the warden in question, even if that means he will follow up on his absurd claims to charge me with whatever he deems appropriate.