An area known as the ‘scar’  which housed two illegal scrapyards long plaguing the countryside area of Ix-Xerriek, limits of Birżebbuġa, has been cleaned out and returned to its original state.

The Planning Authority said in a statement that its direct action team removed, more than 400 truckloads of scrapped cars, trucks, white goods, tyres and mixed material from a 10,000m2 area where the two illegal scrapyards sat.

This was done over a week with the assistance of the Works and Infrastructure Department and Cleansing Directorate.

The direct action was carried out after the Courts turned down a prohibitory injunction request filed in April.

The authority said it followed up this course of action after the scrapyard owners faulted on an agreement reached over the past two years. The agreement had given the site occupiers the opportunity to remove the illegally deposited material in phases.

Expenses related to the action operation will be incurred by the scrapyard owners.

The Planning Authority’s Enforcement Directorate was also assisted by officials from Transport Malta, the Animal Welfare Department and the Administrative Law Enforcement Section and the Rapid Intervention Unit within the Police Force.

The authority said that over the past days it had also sealed off a site in Gzira. The site, intended to be a car park, had started to be used as a restaurant without the necessary permit.