A hawker renting out umbrellas and sun beds at Ramla l-Ħamra in Nadur is going to have to back off after the court found that he had encroached on an area already allocated to his competitor.

Nigel Carl Azzopardi had obtained a licence from the trade department to operate as street hawker, renting out ‘non-food and non-beverage items.’ This licence had been supplemented by a Mepa permit to operate as fixed hawker, which gave him the right to encroach on the public land. This permit was subsequently given the green light by the Lands Department, with the applicant forking out an annual payment of €1,350.

However, Joseph Spiteri was subsequently also given a licence and his operations crept into the area used by Mr Azzopardi. As a result, Mr Azzopardi filed civil proceedings before Gozo’s superior court against him.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Joanne Vella Cuschieri, observed that Mr Spiteri only had a licence to “park a vehicle from which deck chairs, umbrellas and other accessories related to swimming will be rented out” and had not been granted any encroachment rights by the Lands Department.

According to the law, street hawkers like Mr Spiteri have to park their vehicles at least 50 metres away from any other hawker or shop.

On the strength of the evidence produced, the court declared that Mr Spiteri therefore had no right to occupy part of the site nor to park his van within 50 metres of Mr Azzopardi’s allocated site.

The court banned him from exercising his rental business as long as Mr Azzopardi’s rights remained in force.