African migrants were hired by street vendors to stand in the queue come rain or shine to obtain a permit, Floriana mayor Nigel Holland revealed yesterday.

“What hurt me the most was seeing some hire immigrants to stay in line for them, who slept overnight in the rain and the wind,” Mr Holland told a news conference, after the local council received 400 applications for 79 street vending slots for today’s Labour Party mass meeting on the Granaries.

“Some even hired about 10 immigrants to increase their chances in the ballot. This is colossal abuse and the system has to be overhauled,” Mr Holland said.

The mayor called for stricter rules after scenes of chaos developed outside the Floriana council. Anybody who presented his ID card and a €23 payment was in with a chance of setting up a temporary vending stall.

On February 15, a memo was sent from the Home Affairs Ministry to local councils saying that applicants do not need a trading licence.

Mr Holland explained that since then, individuals have been going to the office way before the local council opened its doors to accept applications, just to make sure they were among the first to apply.

When it came to the first mass meeting on the Granaries, the number of applicants was less than the available slots. But since then, things escalated.

Mr Holland said some turned up outside the local council building on March 7, believing another meeting would be held on the Granaries in the following days.

Mr Holland argued the council had legal advice to draw names by lots if applications were received all at one go. Had they turned up one by one on the day they would have been treated on a first-come-first-served basis, he added.

But the vendors filed an application securing a temporary warrant of prohibitory injunction against the council, stopping it from accepting applications on Thursday. However, in a counter claim the courts decided in favour of the council, and the vendors were yesterday drawn by ballot, Mr Holland said.