Employees at the law courts were yesterday told not to leave the building during a bomb scare but their union intervened and directed them to walk out until the premises were declared safe.

“Employees were surprised by this. Some tried to leave the building and were told not to as it was business as usual. This is unacceptable,” Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin representative Mario Sacco said.

As far as he could recall this was the first time employees were asked to continue working while members of the bomb disposal unit combed the building in search of a potential threat.

Mr Sacco said he could understand that bomb threats at the law courts were not uncommon – this was the second one this year – and were often a waste of time. However, workers should be able to leave the building unless they chose to remain inside – as often happened.

Directing employees to remain inside when there was a health and safety concern was “unacceptable”.

A spokeswoman for the law courts said the court administration yesterday acted in the same manner in which it acted over the last few years.

“Necessary procedures were undertaken, as have always been undertaken, to safeguard the safety of the court employees and the general public.”

The government, she added, intended to consult on how to improve security procedures.

Questioned in Parliament later, Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici said bomb threats had been repeatedly used over the years to hold up court procedures.

There were now ways, used by both past and present governments, to decide if a threat was a hoax or otherwise. He said he would pass on more information to Dr Azzopardi in private.