Residents of North Street, Valletta, are complaining about unchecked drug abuse in the area, with discarded syringes repeatedly found littering the narrow residential road at the lower end of the capital city.

They told this newspaper they had seen particular vehicles stopping repeatedly in the street and staying a short while, leaving drug paraphernalia behind.

They say pleas to the authorities have so far fallen on deaf ears, with syringes often left there for days and no long-term solution to the problem having been offered.