Bus passengers said they were left stranded yesterday morning by a lack of notice about cancelled services.

Residents and tourists said they were caught out by the suspended service, due to a Bermuda Industrial Union meeting, with one bus driver even saying he had only just heard about it.

The BIU did issue a notice to The Royal Gazette and other mediaon Tuesday, saying bus and ferry services would be disrupted between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., but some passengers said there should also have been notices placed at bus terminals.

People were still waiting at the Hubert W. 'Sparky' Lightbourne Terminal in Hamilton yesterday morning, unaware of the service suspension.

One bus driver arriving from the East End, who did not wish to be named, said: "If I hadn't heard about it on the radio I wouldn't have known. I only heard about it at 7.30 a.m., but I don't know what it's about."

Robert MacGregor, 49, of Essex in the UK, was planning on visiting Spanish Point but said he would have to change his plans. Mr. MacGregor is the owner of a bus company - Hedingham Bus Company, in the UK, which has a fleet of 115 vehicles.

He said: "I was very impressed by the bus service in Bermuda, at how well organised it is and the service, but I find it disgraceful that they've stopped the buses for two hours.

"We are on holiday but this is unacceptable, it's like a wildcat strike with everything stopping at the last minute."

Marcus Fox, a 16-year-old student from Somerset, was also annoyed. He said: "I've been waiting for about an hour to get to Somerset. I am very annoyed as this has just come out of the blue. Now I will have to wait until 1 p.m. as it will be too expensive for me to get a taxi."

Another customer, Bobby Robb, was visiting from Scotland to take care of his brother, who was being discharged from hospital yesterday. Mr. Robb, 49, said: "I will have to walk to the hospital now. My brother is expecting me up there but now I'll be later than I should. I think maybe they should have put notices up to say there's no buses, as otherwise I could have been stuck here for hours."

A US tourist, Sue Hardy, 49, from New York state, said: "We're on vacation and will just change our plans for the day, but we're glad we didn't get stuck anywhere."

The BIU general meeting was called to update members on current negotiations with Government.

Chris Furbert, BIU President, said yesterday: "An advisory was sent out so if some people didn't see or hear it, I apologise. We will do what we can to make sure all the media is informed next time - television media and print media, as well as any other media that needs to be informed.

"We had some words with membership that we needed to provide a better service while we have these meetings. We did what we could to get some of the operators to assist and were unsuccessful. Next time I think this will be handled a lot better."