service -- for the second year running.

Bus drivers have refused to make trips after 6.15 p.m. on Tuesday, through fear of being targeted by the youngsters.

But yesterday, Public Transportation Board director Mr. Herman Basden attacked the decision. He said it amounted to caving into hooligans, adding: "I think it is sending the wrong signal.'' The bus drivers' decision came on a day The Royal Gazette learned of two attacks on their vehicles.

In one, Police said a missile was hurled at a bus in Middle Road, Warwick, just before 4 p.m. yesterday. And in the other an egg was apparently thrown through a bus window in Paget, hitting a young girl.

Yesterday, Police spokeswoman Insp. Roseanda Jones sent out a pre-Hallowe'en plea for youngsters to use their common sense.

"Some of these pranks have had devastating effects on others, whereby people have been seriously hurt,'' she said. "Young people have been arrested for what they consider to be a prank -- but which has had disastrous results.'' Insp. Jones also urged parents to warn their youngsters to stay out of trouble. "Very often a warning from parents can have stronger effect than one from the Police.'' She said some Hallowe'en missiles -- such as fruit and eggs -- often came from pranksters' homes.

Earlier this week, Insp. Jones revealed Police would have extra patrols out on Tuesday. But she added yesterday: "There is nothing to indicate that we would have any more patrols than normal on Hallowe'en.'' Chief Education Officer Mr. Dean Furbert has already stated school principals would be urged to supervise kids more closely.

Mr. Basden said the bus drivers' decision was delivered to him through a brief written statement. It followed a meeting of bus operators at the Bermuda Industrial Union on Tuesday, he added.

"They told me they had withdrawn their services because of the safety of passengers and drivers. I thought it was my job to make sure of things like safety, but the drivers have taken this job on themselves.

"They are really sending bad signals to our youth, and causing a large organisation like PTB to retreat. I think we should let the Police and other emergency services deal with this sort of thing.

"We've already got school principals involved in this and have a number of others involved. Nobody is backing down, except us.'' Earlier this week Mr. Basden announced management had hoped to run the "normal, scheduled'' bus service on October 31.

But yesterday he said there was not much he could do to reverse the drivers' decision. It was not worth plunging PTB into an industrial dispute over it.

Insp. Jones, however, expressed some sympathy with the bus drivers. "We should all appreciate what the bus drivers are doing -- they are not prepared to put lives in jeopardy. It is unfortunate it has come to this.''