The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association has welcomed the amendment to the Trading Licences Act by which bottle shops and confectioneries are not allowed to sell alcoholic products after 9pm.

It said the amendment comes at the right time, alongside the recent introduction of the law that bans the sale of alcohol to those aged under 16.

The customers of such shops were mainly youngsters who were buying alcohol at supermarket prices while there was no control on the age limit, said the MHRA.

This situation, it said, resulted in both foreign students and local young people indulging in excessive drinking and loitering in a drunken state on the streets and beaches.

Such a practice gave rise to a further accumulation of litter in areas of entertainment, which was off-putting to everyone except these young students.

The MHRA is now asking for the rigorous enforcement of the new regulation. To date there has been no enforcement and the old practices have continued, to the detriment of the tourism industry. The authorities must ensure that appropriate action is taken with immediate effect, starting from this weekend.