Lawyers representing Transport Malta argued in court today that licensed parking attendants had no right to remain stationed in any particular car park.

The lawyers were replying to a request for the issue of a warrant of prohibitory injunction requested by car park attendant Paul Grech, 49, who works in Marsamxetto Road, Valletta. He is requesting the court to stop TM from building a horse shelter in his parking lot while transferring him elsewhere.

But the authority's lawyer Ivan Gatt, told a court today that Transport Malta has the right to transfer parking attendants wherever it feels they are  most needed for the benefit of the locality.

Last week the court provisionally upheld the request and put off the case to yesterday to hear both parties' arguments before reaching a final decision.

Mr Grech, a father of three, argued he had been been working in Marsamxetto Road, opposite the House of Catalunia, for the past 18 years. Construction workers turned up one morning to build a shelter for horse drawn cabs.

Mr Grech claimed he was threatened by Transport Malta staff and told not to cause any obstacles for them.

He said that the shelter would remove a number of parking spaces severely limiting his income. Mr Grech argued that although he was managed by Transport Malta they had no right to take an arbitrary decision overnight when it directly affected his livelihood.

His lawyers, David Camilleri and Sharon Mizzi, said this went against transport regulations according to which Mr Grech was meant to he given a written warning so he could contest the decision.

They said their client's parker licence, renewable every year in October, was linked to the venue and therefore he should he allowed to stay there, at least, till October.

Dr Gatt said the authority had the right to move an attendant wherever he was most needed. He said a licence granted to a car park attendant was not rigidly linked to a fixed location.

Dr Gatt said that building the horse shelters formed part of the Valletta rehabilitation programme.

During a meeting between the authority and the Union Ħaddiema Magħudin, representing the attendants, the two sides agreed that some attendants would he relocated to other areas if they needed to move because of the reform. Mr Grech was to be moved to an area near the Excelsior Hotel, he said.

Mr Justice Anthony Ellul put off the case for a final decision.