THERE has been much criticism lately of First bus drivers so, because my husband and daughter are bus drivers, I must redress the balance.

How would you like a job like this?

You start work very early in the morning or finish very late in the evening. Most of the day you are listening to constant moaning about the buses being late.

Does anybody realise that buses actually drive through the traffic jams or are they coming late on purpose just to annoy you?

As a driver you suffer verbal abuse on a regular basis from drunks, druggies and even schoolchildren.

Or you have various missiles thrown at your vehicle and have to deal with threatening behaviour from your passengers and, in the case of my daughter, have your face slapped for no reason whatsoever.

You also drive under pressure all day trying your best to keep your bus on time. If you find this job to your liking, First would love to hear from you.

If not, please try a friendly smile and a kind word to your driver; it will be greatly appreciated.

Mrs S Acaster.

The Village,

Strensall,

York.

...ALTHOUGH I regularly use public transport, I too have some negative thoughts about First following an incident last December when a bus drove into me while I was pedalling along a marked cycle lane.

Because there was contact, and a scratch on the bus paintwork, I stopped and offered my details to the driver who behaved as if it were my fault - which it wasn't.

A witness on the bus took my card too, because she could see the bus was in the cycle lane.

In January I received a letter from First's insurers, asking for my insurance details. I went to the bus HQ and explained what had happened.

They asked for a statement. I prepared this and photocopied the witnesses's letter and took it in.

Since then I've heard nothing.

No apology. No explanation about the driver's behaviour.

My list of questions is getting longer... will they send me a courteous letter, indicating closure of this issue? Do they have safety at the top of their agenda?

Do they sack bad drivers or retrain them? Do they care what the public thinks about them?

I'm still waiting for some answers, and avoiding First buses.

John Cossham,

Hull Road,

York.

Updated: 10:08 Friday, April 02, 2004