Transport Malta is embarking on an exercise to remove abandoned vehicles from the road.

The authority said in a statement that, in agreement with the Local Councils Associations, amendments to the law have been published to facilitate the removal of such vehicles.

These include vehicles that are in a state that they cannot be identified and/or are not roadworthy, as well as vehicles with expired licences which have not been paid within thirty days from the due date.

Enforcement officers shall be placing stickers on windscreens of abandoned vehicles on the roads, allowing the owner a seven-day window to remove the vehicle.

If the vehicle is removed by the authority, the owner shall be obliged to pay all related expenses and if he fails to request the return of his vehicle, together with the payment of costs, the authority shall have the right to auction the vehicle or to scrap it, as the case may be.

“By means of these legislative amendments, we shall be in a position to clear our roads from such vehicles which are occupying space that should be used by duly licensed vehicles,” the authority said.