Buses halted over fires

London's fleet of 120 bendy buses was today dramatically withdrawn from service.

The move follows a series of fires which have wrecked the £200,000 state-of-the-art vehicles. Since they were introduced 18 months ago three have been destroyed while in service and a fourth burst into flames on delivery.

Despite repeated claims by Transport for London that there were no significant problems, their maker today admitted urgent safety work needed to be carried out. Hans Smits, managing director of Evobus UK, the manufacturer, said today: "Based on the results of the technical investigation into the Mercedes Benz Citaro bendy bus fire of last Saturday we have decided that certain modifications to all Citaro buses in London are necessary.

"In order not to take any risk these vehicles have been taken out of service until these modifications have been completed."

He said the modifications would be completed within a week and the vehicles would then be returned to service.

Mr Smits added that once the vehicles had been modified they would be able to be " operated without restriction".

There has been mounting concern over the fire risk to the vehicles. The fleet of 120 operates on seven routes in London.

In December passengers fled after fire gutted a bus at Marble Arch. It was so intense it damaged a nearby building in Edgware Road. The reinforcedbus windows shatteredin the heat and the vehicle was reduced to a blackened shell.

One shocked passerby said: "It looked as though the bus had been hit by a bomb. The passengers were lucky they escaped so quickly or they would not have survived."

A fire service spokesman said of the fourth fire last week: "There is obviously a mechanical fault."

Routes affected by the withdrawal of the buses are numbers 18, 293, 436, 453, 507 and RV1.

Service patterns will be changed and on some routes extra conventional buses will run.

However on route 521 there will be no service from Waterloo to London Bridge.

A Transport for London spokeswoman said extra staff will be on duty today, particularly in the London Bridge and Waterloo areas, to help passengers find alternative means of travel.

The exact cause of the fires has not been revealed by Evobus - though in at least two instances they began at the rear of the vehicles where the engine is located.

Last Saturday's fire started when a pipe snapped and oil poured out. Last month a bus in Camberwell was also destroyed when an air pipe cracked and damaged wiring.

London Fire Brigade said then that they had passed on detailed reports to TfL.

Only three of the the old and popular double decker Routemasters, which the bendy buses are replacing. have been destroyed by fire in their 45 years of service.