Updated 2 August

Two men caught making irregular use of a bring-in site in Safi have drawn the ire of the village's mayor. 

In footage sent to Times of Malta by mayor Johan Mula, the two men can be seen leaving nine bags of rubbish by the recycling bins in Safi's Triq Qerd in-Naħal, just minutes after midnight on July 30. 

One of the men is first seen trying to stuff a bag of rubbish into a blue recycling bin, which should be used for recyclable plastic waste.

Another man leaves a couple of bags on the ground, before disappearing off-camera to fetch a few more. The other does likewise, with the two presumably unaware that they are being recorded on a camera installed to catch bring-in site litterbugs. 

READ: 50 facing court as louts leave their mark at bring-in sites

"We did not recognise these individuals...we presume they do not live in Safi," Mr Mula said.  

"The local council has already filed an official report and presented the footage to Żurrieq police station," he added, saying he hoped that sharing the footage would help identify the men. 

Culprit comes forward

Mr Mula's idea turned out to be prophetic, with one of the culprits contacting the local council after the footage was shared by Times of Malta. 

"One of the men called me up and admitted he was to blame," the mayor said, "he regrets what he did and is willing to cooperate."  

Mr Mula said he hoped the incident would discourage other people from misusing bring-in sites in the future.

"We constantly monitor what's going on and we're not going to let people who abuse the system get away with it," he said.