Malta's EU presidency is turning into a nightmare for Valletta residents who need to access their homes, the local council said today.

Despite several meetings with the presidency team to limit the negative effects of on residents, any measures are being neutralised by the aggressive clearance of vehicles from roads, the Valletta council said in a statement.

Long stretches of roads including parts of the ring road away from the meeting venues are being cleared to make way for any dignitaries.

"While we do understand there might be security concerns, we’ve all been to other European cities, in particular Brussels, where the European leaders work every day but we've never seen such an aggressive clearance policy," the council said.

Worst of all, the authorities are not being sensitive to the needs of residents. Ordering the removal of vehicles from 5am until 11pm makes no sense when the meetings start hours later.

"So what shall we expect from the residents? To leave their home before 5am and after a day's work, stay in the car till 11pm to park? Get them to park outside of Valletta as some are doing? We think the situation is utterly ridiculous."

"Having a clearance just in case a VIP passes is not on and simply helps to anger the residents who have a sacred right to access their premises."

The statement comes a day after Times of Malta reported that the council cannot finance the city’s upkeep due to a debilitating lack of funds.