Some people hoping to leave Bermuda on Thursday night aboard the aborted British Airways flight to Gatwick had to wait until after midnight to be taken to hotels after taxis failed to show at the airport.

British Airways staff resorted to transporting people to various parts of the Island themselves because a request for taxi cabs soon after 9 p.m. failed to materialise due to an electricity failure, meaning the radio system went down.

BA spokeswoman Sallie Singleton said yesterday that the BA flight arrived in Bermuda as normal at about 6 p.m. on Thursday, but deteriorating weather meant passengers were unable to leave on the outgoing flight, as planned.

She said: "Luggage was put on the aircraft, but it was taken off again after the decision was made to cancel the flight at about 9 p.m.

"Some people went home, others decided to go back to where ever they had been staying, and some were put up at hotels in St. George's. They went to wherever they wanted to go and British Airways assisted with their arrangements.

"Soon after the flight was cancelled, a request for taxis was made, but it took more than three hours to get all of the passengers dispersed because of a lack of cabs. It was extremely difficult for the passengers to get a taxi, so they were inconvenienced. Some passengers even resorted to taking a public bus back into town.

"We had some passengers still there just before 12.30 a.m.

"By all accounts, the conditions at the airport were particularly bad, and these people had to hang about there for more than three hours."

Mrs. Singleton said none of the passengers actually boarded the plane, and all were expected to leave last night at about 6.45 p.m., a day later than planned.

The regular BA flight was due in last night at about 6 p.m. and was also set to leave on time yesterday, at about 7.45 p.m.

But the public transport system came in for criticism last night from one Somerset man who was desperate to get home on Thursday night after finishing work at 10.30 p.m.

The man, who did not wish to be named, said he was at the bus station in Church Street ready to catch the number eight bus home, choosing not to ride his bike, when he and about 25 other passengers were told to get off because there would be no service. But he said the passengers, including a number of tourists, were given no assistance in finding other transport, and no attempt was made by the driver to get taxis to the station.

He said: "The bus driver simply closed his door and left the passengers stranded without making an effort to help them.

"There were tourists there who simply did not know what to do. I went with two elderly female holidaymakers to Front Street, where we stood with a number of other people trying to hail taxis. Cars failed to stop, they didn't even stop to help us call for other cabs, and we were left for some time in the storm. The weather was wild, and the tourists were scared. They didn't know what to do or how to get back." The man said when he finally did get a cab, the driver took the two women to their hotel on the South Shore, but then said she did not want to take him home to Somerset. Instead, she drove him to the Southampton Princess Hotel, where he caught a different cab.

"I understand there was a storm, but I don't know what they expected people to do. There was simply no thought for people that were stranded. The public transport system should simply not shut down like that."