Bus drivers who worked to rule on the public holiday on June 18 broke the law, according to Walton Brown, the Minister of Home Affairs.

However, unionised bus operators are now “talking through all their issues”, Mr Brown told Parliament.

The work-to-rule industrial action, which was called off on June 22, came because of “an impasse over 12 outstanding issues”, Mr Brown said.

Frustrations included ongoing maintenance problems with the ageing fleet. The details came in response to parliamentary questions from Opposition MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin.

She asked whether the longstanding contentions over developing a new bus schedule had been addressed.

But Mr Brown told MPs that the scheduling issue was “beyond my ministerial responsibilities”.