A milestone dating back to British colonial times has been found at Marsalforn’s Menqa, in the course of works to improve the seaside locality.

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri said that the milestone was more than 150 years old and will be incorporated in the Menqa project, which is now nearing completion.

The Menqa project is part of the Marsalforn masterplan aimed at created a “more homogenous” promenade.

Camilleri said that while infrastructure was a priority, so was cultural and archaeological heritage so such finds had to be preserved.

Wirt Għawdex president Giovanni Zammit said the British had introduced a system of milestones usually made of coralline limestone.

The stones used to be carved with the distance from and to a particular place.

But during the Second World War, most of these distances and destinations were removed because of the fear of an invasion. Their removal gave the assurance that the enemy would not be assisted in the case of an attack, Zammit said.