A local haulier has filed a judicial letter for damages against Transport Malta chairman James Piscopo, as well as his wife, claiming his business had been dealt a severe blow as a result of the authority's persistent refusal to issue HQ number plates for his vehicles.

Vehicles used for the carriage of goods by hauliers should have number plates with a letter followed by the letters HQ and then three digits.

Freeways Logistics Ltd managing director Joseph Manuel Galea said in the protest that he has been in possession of a national and international operating licence for the carriage of goods since November 2009.

However, in 2014, Mr Galea's local business was brought to a standstill when the transport watchdog informed him that his vehicles did not have the HQ number plates as required in terms of subsidiary legislation issued in 1967, which Mr Galea argued was enacted long before Malta became an EU member and was outdated.

Although Mr Piscopo had declared that this requirement was "the custom and must be respected", Mr Galea argued that decisions were to be taken according to law rather than custom.

Mr Galea formally called upon the authority to enter into negotiations within one week on the damages suffered for loss of income, granting it one week in which to do so. Lawyer Anthony Stellini signed the judicial letter.