A restaurant in Marsalforn sent its staff home and stayed shut on Monday lunchtime as it was being pelted with rubble falling from an adjacent construction site.

"We could not put people at risk as there were stones falling down onto the roof and the parapet," Il-Kartell restaurant owner Diane Falzon told the Times of Malta. 

She said that work on the roof of the adjacent site had started last week but this weekend, men were seen removing slabs, with loose debris falling down. Makeshift scaffolding has been erected but the video sent by Ms Falzon shows an area covered by dust and small stones.

The police were contacted but even though they came on site, they said that only the court could stop the work, co-owner Martin Mercieca added.

He referred the case to the health and safety authorities, who promised him that they would visit the site on Tuesday.

"It seems incredible that I lose a day of business because of this," he fumed.