“The local council” was the reply of a police officer when asked who had issued the order stipulating that toy guns were not to be allowed during the carnival festivities in Nadur last weekend.

When contacted by this newspaper however, Nadur mayor, Miriam Portelli denied being aware of this order, and said that this topic had never even been brought up to her knowledge.

The young people waiting outside the Nadur police station for their friend, who was being held for supposedly mouthing off to a police officer who had told him he was confiscating his toy gun, asked the police outside why this was happening.

The replies they got were far from helpful, as most police officers chose to ignore their requests, and suggested that they simply stop asking questions.

One of the police officers tried to answer their questions, and when undeterred they asked why this was so, considering that stalls in Valletta were selling these toy guns, even to children, he said they were following council orders.

It became apparent that the police were not aware of why this ban was in place, and could offer no reason for it. Moreover, when asked why there had been no prior warning of this, the police had no idea.