The Swieqi Local Council has said that its residents are living in fear for their safety in their own homes and appealed to the government to dedicate more law enforcement resources to the area.

In a scathing statement shared on its official social media page, the council said that “all the residents of Swieqi are very worried about the current situation where there are a number of suspicious individuals roaming around our streets, taking photos of doors and windows of residences, and entering private gardens and drive-ins.”

The statement came a day after police arrested three people who were seen taking photos of a villa in the locality.  From police investigations, including the use of CCTV footage, it resulted that the same three people had entered the property and, although they had not stolen anything, they were seen milling about until they left in a car.

The trio – two men and a woman, all from Hungary – were arrested by police on Wednesday in St Julian’s.

“This does not appear to be an isolated case, because these individuals have been seen more than once visiting various streets observing the daily movements of our residents. This is apart from the fact that the Local Council was informed of break-ins in private residences in recent weeks,” the local council said.

“As a Council we are asking Central Government to give the disciplined forces the much-needed resources, with immediate effect, so that the security of residents will be assured. It is not acceptable that our residents live in fear for their safety in their own homes,” it concluded.