The mayor of Pembroke yesterday called on the authorities to tow away some 36 of the old yellow buses that everyone had been so happy to see the back of but which are now rusting away in a parking lot in the neighbourhood.

“We are afraid the area will start to attract people doing untoward things,” Mayor Joe Zammit said.

“The council has received reports about people sleeping in them, like tramps.”

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Zammit said the buses had been left in a Park and Ride area owned by Arriva in Pembroke for months and, while 14 of the original 50 have been removed, the majority were still sitting there.

The buses were an eyesore, he said. They sat right opposite a residential area and were being vandalised.

The calls and protests to Transport Malta to have them removed had fallen on deaf ears, he said.