Hompesch Road in Fgura, normally clogged with traffic, was yesterday transformed into an unusual pedestrian space to mark Car Free Day.

The Fgura Local Council said the awareness-raising activity was successful in attracting a large part of the local community.

Children and adults alike participated in a series of activities ranging from athletics to tugs of war, bicycle races and martial arts displays as target shooting and a football match in the street replaced speeding cars.

In a short address Fgura mayor Pierre Dalli appealed for in-creased public transport use.

Meanwhile, 300 cyclists participated in the National Bike Ride, from Floriana to Mosta and back.

The ride, now in its fourth edition, is becoming more popular among local cycling enthusiasts, attracting a third more participants over last year.

The National Bike Ride started from the Transport Ministry in Floriana and took participants to Ħamrun, Santa Venera, Attard, Mosta, Birkirkara and Msida.

At the end of the ride, the Transport Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Christopher Cutajar, addressed riders on the initiatives aimed at promoting bicycles as an alternative means of transport.

Applications for EU funds to build bicycle lanes and the drafting of the National Cycling Policy were two fronts the government was working on, he said.

The bike ride was one of the activities organised as part of European Mobility Week.