The deputy mayor of Paola was slightly injured this morning when he was assaulted by the relative of a woman whom he had stopped because her dog had fouled the pavement.

Alfred Borg told timesofmalta.com that the woman was nice to him when he told her that her dog should not be allowed to litter the pavement.

Then about an hour later one of her relatives approached him, punched him in the face and broke his glasses.

Paola council, the Labour Party, the Nationalist Party and the Local Councils Association expressed their solidarity with Mr Borg.