The transport authority is clamping down on abusive parking attendants as stories emerge of drivers being insulted for not tipping them even when signs clearly say they do not have to.

Over the past six months, Transport Malta has suspended the licence of two attendants for a month and a number of others were fined for abusive behaviour, a spokesman said.

Reports have meanwhile reached this newspaper of attendants at public car parks in Floriana and the Mdina ditch trying to coerce drivers to pay up.

One driver, who did not wish to be named, said he often ended up on the receiving end of verbal abuse for refusing to do so.

He said that last month he parked his car in the public car park beside the Floriana football grounds and when he failed to dip his hand into his pocket, the attendant launched into a furious tirade and verbal attack.

“As I got out of the car, the parker came up to me asking for money. I pointed to the nearby sign indicating that payments were optional and told him that I did not feel obliged to pay,” the driver said.

The team, whose members do not wear a uniform, show up to check if parkers are requesting money

As he left the car park, he was showered with insults, which went on even after he had asked the parker to address him more politely.

At that point, the driver said he called the police, who suggested he file a report. When the driver pointed out he did not want the extra hassle, it was agreed that the parker and the driver would meet at the Valletta station to settle the argument.

“The parker even went on to call me a cheapskate in front of the policemen and they did not do anything about it. They just told him he knows he should not have asked for money.

“Then they just asked us to shake hands and forget about the incident,” the driver said, adding that he feared such an attitude would only encourage this sort of behaviour.

A spokesman for Transport Malta, which regulates parking attendants, said it regularly received complaints about abusive parkers. Its enforcement directorate then investigated and took the necessary action, the spokesman said, adding that two had been suspended and a number fined over the past six months.

In an attempt to curb abuse by attendants, the transport watchdog has set up a team of inspectors who carry out site visits to monitor their behaviour.

“The team, whose members do not wear a uniform, show up to check if parkers are requesting money,” the spokesman said.

Similar incidents have also been reported at Mdina, in the area known as Il-Foss. A driver who was taking his one-year-old son’s pushchair out of the car was approached by the parker there who demanded payment, peppering his request with insults.

In November, another motorist complained to this newspaper that the parker there informed him that the minimum charge was €1, even though notices clearly indicated that the car park was a public one.

The transport authority spokesman encouraged anyone experiencing any form of abuse to contact Transport Malta on freephone 80072393.