Mario A. Farrugia, on behalf of S. Mifsud and Sons Ltd (Groups and Cruises department), writes:

'My company handles local arrangements for a Japanese group. On August 31, we organised a gala dinner for delegates at the Casino Maltese, Valletta. Since I was directly responsible, I had to be present to ensure that everything went as planned. Since I am not used to driving in the maze of the streets of Valletta to go to the centre, I prefer to park on the outskirts and walk.

'At 8 p.m. I arrived at Marsamxett and, since there were a few vacant parking bays (opposite the steps leading to Auberge d'Aragon) I parked my company car in one of them. Going back to my car after 10 p.m., there were even fewer cars, and most parking bays were still vacant. To my surprise, I found a parking ticket issued by warden no. 105 for parking in a residents' parking bay.

'Where were all those Valletta residents who should have been parked there between 8 and 10.35 p.m.? Surely, I wasn't depriving any of these residents of their parking space, since the bays were unoccupied. Is this the way you encourage us non-residents to visit Valletta, especially in the evenings and atthe weekend, when the capital city is dead?

'Next time round, I won't even propose a Valletta venue for such functions, since I feel I am being considered a second-class citizen by the council, and I am not prepared to subsidise the council by being charged such stupid taxes.

'Could you advise where there are available parking spaces for non-residents in Valletta? You never know, I might be asked this question by one of my clients and I would not like to give the wrong information and add another victim to this tax collection by the council.

'Since this is a company car and I do not want to implicate my directors in this issue, I am paying the ticket.'