crashed into a wall on South Shore Road when the brakes gave way.

A horrible tragedy was averted by the quick thinking of bus driver Herbert Russell who told The Royal Gazette that he realised the brakes were gone just as he passed the junction with Berry Hill Road.

"As I was going down T-Street I pushed down on the brake and it was not there.'' he said. "I was pumping it and pumping it but there was just nothing there at all.'' "I was scared -- I definitely was,'' he recalled last night. "But I thought quickly and decided to turn left although I was headed for Somerset.'' It was a close call too for a car travelling along South Shore Road.

"It's a good thing the female driver who was travelling east as I came onto South Shore Road thought quickly too.'' Mr. Russell added.

"She swerved into the driveway of the Matilda Smith home.'' The driver had three passengers in her car at the time of the incident and Mr.

Russell said if she had not been alert "definitely those four people in that car would not have been here now.'' The 14-year-old bus showed no signs of a brake problem when Mr. Russell began his shift at 2.05 yesterday afternoon. He said that he collected CedarBridge students at 3.45 and set off for Somerset down Gymnasium Road without any problem.

"I don't know what went wrong, the bus had been fine up until then,'' he said "All I know is when I pushed down on the brake nothing was there.'' Mr. Russell brought the bus to a halt by deliberately crashing into the wall of the East End Asphalt Company.

According to Mr. Russell there were no injuries in the hair-raising accident, and no damage to the vehicles or the wall.

Director of Public Transport, Herman Basden, could not be reached for comment last night.