Bermuda has been told to become more wheelchair-friendly by a disgruntled visitor who was forced to ride her chair in traffic when she could not get a taxi.

Newark-resident Sandra Spaights came to the Island on a cruise last month and found problem after problem during her stay which was only highlighted by the Island's beauty and the kindness of two locals she met.

"I'm just saying I had a very terrible time and I hope when I return to see the wonderful people I met, you will be, as we say in the States, wheelchair-friendly,'' she said.

Ms Spaights told The Royal Gazette she was expecting a wonderful time when she came to the Island but she did not like the ramp off the ship where it first docked.

"Instead, I had a ramp at St. George (sic) that hurt my back, which forced me to stay in my cabin the entire stay at St. George (sic).'' In Hamilton she encountered other problems, she continued.

"Then at Hamilton I could not get a wheelchair taxi. I rode my chair to the Botanical Gardens myself, in traffic which is dangerous.'' Ms Spaights said she sought a taxi the day after her chair ride from the dock to Paget but could not get one until 6 p.m. By then it was too late to go on a tour, which she was told would cost $30 an hour.

She called a taxi operator whom she was told had a wheelchair taxi and left a message for him. The driver called back and set up a tour for the following morning.

When Ms Spaights met the driver the following day, he told her the tour would cost $42 an hour -- $12 more than the rate she was quoted the day before.

She declined and instead went to visit the Allen Vincent Smith Foundation where she met Michael Fox who "heard my dilemma and immediately offered me a small tour of the Island''.

"That was really great and unselfish of him,'' noted Ms Spaights. "I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am.'' She said she called another woman she had met on the Island "and she said if she had known that I was having such a terrible time she would have tried to show me around''.

"It seems neither one wanted me to leave unhappy,'' said Ms Spaights.

"This letter is just saying you need to get wheelchair accessible. You get plenty of tourists who are in wheelchairs.

"Your tours, buses, main attractions, sidewalks and taxis need to be upgraded for people in wheelchairs.'' The letter echoes the comments of wheelchair-bound visitor Alexis Donnelly in March of this year who visited planning and tourism officials to highlight the problems he faced during his visit here.

His main argument was that businesses such as bars, restaurants and hotels which advertised themselves as being wheelchair friendly had to be set up to allow wheelchair users access to all their facilities independently.

Mr. Donnelly did praise the improvements Bermuda had made in making areas disabled-friendly and Corporation of Hamilton Secretary Roger Sherratt noted that his organisation would be continuing to improve access for the disabled wherever possible -- with assistance from the Bermuda Physically Handicapped Association (BPHA).

At that time BPHA chairman Willard Fox said Bermuda was way behind other countries when it came to disabled access.

"On a scale of one to ten, I would say Bermuda scored one, maybe two,'' he said.

And he added: "What bothers me is that visitors come from other countries, such as America, where access is good, they get off cruise ships, where access is good, and they come here, where access is not good.'' TOURISM TOURIST TOU