All buses were taken off the road yesterday after one hit an overhanging tree and several nearly did the same, prompting industrial action from drivers.

Premier and Transport Minister Ewart Brown reacted angrily by dubbing their refusal to operate in the aftermath of Hurricane Igor "amazingly insensitive" and "very unBermudian".

Union officials say Government had initially agreed buses would be back on at noon yesterday after a full assessment of the Island's roads.

But a partial service was set up six hours earlier than planned, at 6 a.m., after Works and Engineering addressed problems outlined by the Department of Public Transportation.

Drivers downed tools after one bus had its windscreen cracked by an overhanging tree on Middle Road near Belmont Hills mid-morning; the operator said he was unable to avoid the branch because of oncoming traffic the other way.

Other drivers came close to accidents with one telling The Royal Gazette she had to swerve onto the wrong side of Middle Road, Somerset, to dodge a branch which was not visible in the 7.25 a.m. light.

Bermuda Public Services Union president Armell Thomas said buses were expected to be up and running again today.

Mr. Thomas told this newspaper: "They were mainly worried about safety. They wanted to have the roads assessed, which is fine and dandy. Safety is important, not only for themselves, but to the public as well.

"The agreement between unions and the management was that they'd have a scheduled start at noon. But when they came in during the morning they were told they had to work."

Dr. Brown said in a statement yesterday afternoon: "The Ministry of Tourism and Transport has taken an aggressive leadership role in getting Bermuda up and moving again in the aftermath of Hurricane Igor.

"In an effort to provide the public with service, while protecting the safety of the operators, a management decision was taken on Monday to stagger the resumption of bus service on Tuesday morning on routes that were identified as safe.

"Works and Engineering and Belco agreed last night to address areas of concern contained in a route inspection report submitted by Department of Public Transportation representatives.

"It was determined that partial service would commence at 6 a.m. with full service available by noon today.

"This approach served to get our people moving again while protecting the safety of our operators. Despite this rational and reasoned approach, operators decided to down tools and cease providing service to the community.

"In light of the anxiety that Bermudians have experienced over the past three days with Hurricane Igor, this work stoppage over a disagreement with regard to the start time for the resumption of service, is amazingly insensitive.

"Just as most Bermudians are in the thick of recovery this insensitive gesture is very unBermudian, lacks compassion and defies rational explanation."

Bus drivers congregated at the Public Transportation Board headquarters in Devonshire from late morning yesterday.

One of them told this newspaper she nearly crashed her bus in Somerset while carrying no passengers; she discontinued the service to ensure there was no repeat with people on board.

"It was crazy. I swerved out. I was stunned because I didn't expect to see the tree," she said.

Another operator said drivers weren't told of a road blockage in St. David's due to a fallen telephone pole.

"That information was not passed on," he said. "So they had to back up the bus. That's not a good area to be backing up. There was a lack of communication on behalf of the management."

Diane Ehlerf, a Southampton resident, was one of a group of nine friends who caught the bus to Hamilton in the morning and had to get taxis home later in the day.

"It left a lot of people stranded," she said. "I feel sorry for the senior citizens because it was hard enough for the nine of us.

"There was no problem on the road at all on our journey."