according to one US tourist in Bermuda last week.

Travel executive Craig Pixley told The Royal Gazette : "You often have to wait quite a while for the bus but few of the shelters I've been in have seats.'' "My wife is six month's pregnant and is coping well but other women might not be able to cope with standing up, especially in this heat.'' But Public Transport Board Director Herman Basden said seats were only put in by public demand if there were people with special needs in the area.

He said: "They are often put in if there's been a request from an MP or a local group like The Lions because there are elderly or physically challenged people living nearby.'' The work is then carried out by the Works and Engineering Department.

But Mr. Basden added: "But we often hear from residents who complain about undesirables hanging around the shelters. People do things in them that you couldn't print in a newspaper.'' "We don't want to make things too comfortable. Sometimes you have a problem with people who are on drugs there.'' He said: "You have to strike a balance. We get people ringing up and asking for us to pull down a bus shelter because they don't want people hanging around there. I just get caught in the middle of all this.'' But Mr. Pixley replied: "Why not have seats which drop down from the wall and which are folded back against the wall at night and locked?'' "And anyway if there are undesirables hanging around isn't that a problem for the Police to deal with when they are patrolling the area?'' Mr. Pixley also complained that many shelters lacked timetables meaning he never knew how long he would be waiting.

But Mr. Basden said: "People can always call the Public Transport Board if they don't have a timetable on them.'' Mr. Basden said he had very few complaints about the bus service but current demand was pushing the current central bus terminal to its limit.

He said: "We have three million passengers a year with 75-80 buses on the road at peak hours every day.'' "We want to expand but you can only run so many buses from the present site.

We are looking at getting a new terminus.''