Malta’s motor hobbyists have taken to social media to call out alleged “discrimination” and “bullying” by traffic officials after a number of them were stopped during their Sunday morning drive, allegedly over being too loud.

“We feel aggrieved because there’s a large number of car and motorcycle enthusiasts in Malta for such a small island, and for over 20 years we’ve been promised a dedicated track and got nothing,” one enthusiast told Lovin Malta. “Every other hobby has somewhere to go apart from us.”

The rise in complaints came after another motorist uploaded a post on Sunday, alleging that he and a number of others had been stopped by Transport Malta officials while driving on the Coast Road.

The man recounted how he was “sent to the back of a long queue” of drivers, where some claimed they spent an hour waiting.

“It was also said that, while some traffic police officers were civil and amicable with us hobbyists, some TM officials were arrogant and it was felt that on some level there was ‘bullying’ from the officials. Apparently, the inspection were mainly over the loudness of the vehicles,” he had said.

He also alleged discrimination between “working-class hobbyist vehicles” and “expensive” cars like Ferraris.

His post ignited a series of complaints from local motorists, who called out everything from being targeted for their vehicles to the lack of a dedicated race track where they could practice their hobby.