Boris: Right decision to take buses off the roads

Boris Johnson has defended the decision to return buses to their depots early on Monday morning, which brought the network to a halt.

The Mayor said there had been 30 accidents involving buses in the hours leading up to midnight caused by heavy snow and drivers had reported another 26.

He also said the bus network headquarters had taken 140 emergency phone calls and there had been another 150 they were unable to answer.

Mr Johnson said: "At 00.13am it was decided it was senseless for buses to continue in the conditions they were experiencing. It's untrue to say there was a no-show of drivers.
"Between 85 and 90 per cent turned up for work."

A spokesman for Transport for London said on a normal Sunday evening there "might" be one accident and that 30 was a very high number.

Mr Johnson said he and TfL would make the same decision again.