Xaghra farmer Joseph Micallef was rather upset on receiving a ticket to face a tribunal or pay Lm20 for having contravened a one-way sign.

When he read the charges, he realised it could only have been a mistake as he was being accused of driving his Massey Ferguson tractor against a one-way sign in Tower Road, Sliema.

Mr Micallef said "I use the tractor solely in the fields at Marsalforn. It has a very slow engine and barely does 30 kilometres an hour. So you can imagine me driving all the way from Marsalforn, boarding the ferry and then driving to Sliema on a Friday afternoon in August and contravening a one-way sign."

The former policeman said he does go to Malta from time to time, but he simply drives to the vegetable market at Ta' Qali, and very seldom might have an errand to run in Valletta.

"As you can imagine, I never use the tractor to cross over to Malta. Over the past two or three years I have always gone over to Malta with my son or somebody else, but I have still received two other tickets, one for driving the wrong way on a one-way street near St Luke's Hospital and another for parking in a prohibited area in Qormi.

I have just paid those as it would not pay me to waste time to go over to Malta to contest them, even though I was in Gozo when both tickets were issued and there must have been some mistake.

This latest charge is however just a bit too much now," he said.

Mr Micallef said he has now written to the petitions committee about the matter and has received an acknowledgement.

Mr Micallef added "But the case is still on. I should have appeared last week, but they have now put the case off until January. I simply hope that common sense will prevail and that these charges are lifted immediately. Anyone with a bit of common sense can see who is right and who's in the wrong in this case,"