The negative effects on residents' parking in Valletta as a result of security measures being taken during Malta's EU presidency was raised in Parliament this evening with Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela saying the situation should change after the beginning of February.

Questions on what was being done to alleviate the residents’ “nightmare” were raised by Nationalist MPs David Agius, Claudio Grech and Ċensu Galea.

The minister said the situation would not be changing this week or in the first days of February, because there were other meetings and a summit.

Streets, he said, were too narrow to allow parking during such activities because of security reasons.

The minister also pointed out that no cars were towed but one belonging to a resident who was abroad was moved a few metres to make access possible.

The city’s council said yesterday the situation was turning into a nightmare for residents who needed to access their homes with long stretches of roads including parts of the ring road away from the meeting venues being cleared to make way for dignitaries.