Two women have dropped legal action against a relative who had informed them, via text message, the he would be cleaning a family grave.

Annabelle Borg and Carmen Borg-Schembri had filed an application for a warrant of prohibitory injunction asking the court to stop Joseph, Emmanuel and Frances Schembri from opening and cleaning a grave at a Siġġiewi cemetery.

In the application, filed on August 12, they said there was a long-standing family dispute over the grave.

The dispute took a legal turn after Mr Schembri sent an SMS to Ms Borg-Schembri saying that "this week we will clean the grave, and then we will tell you how much to pay, we will throw everything into a charnel house, take this SMS as a notification".

Ms Borg-Schembri was abroad when she received the SMS and tried to contact the Schembris to tell them at least wait until her return. She and Ms Borg-Schembri then initiated legal action to stop the cleaning.

On Friday, however, the two women dropped the request.

Dr Aaron Mifsud Bonnici had signed the writ.