Bermuda Taxi Association spokesman Lee Tucker has defended cabbies who do not go to jobs they have accepted.

Mr. Tucker was replying to criticism from members of the public who say they are fed up with what they called shoddy service.

One man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I reckon what happens is cabbies agree to take jobs because they want the fare, even if they aren't near the house, and then don't bother going when an easier job comes up.

"In London they have to know every nook and cranny but here I think I know more of the roads than some of the locals."

He said he had recently waited an hour and half for a cab that never came - despite living only five minutes out of Hamilton.

"There must be 20 to 30 cabs in town at that time."

During that time he called the dispatcher four times as well as call the restaurant to explain why he was late for his reservation.

He said the dispatch woman then radioed the driver she had sent and he admitted he could not find the road so had given up.

"The dispatcher asked: `Why didn't you tell me?' Some of the dispatchers are good, others aren't," said the man.

And another cab user, Amy Stone, said: "I had a dinner party recently and my guests had to spend the night at my house because they couldn't get a taxi.

"We tried for an hour and a half. It seems like they must be at the hotels or the airport. They are never in Warwick.

"It's almost impossible to get a taxi. You call and they take your phone number and they say they will call if you don't get one but they never do so you sit and wait."

However Mr. Tucker said problems in finding houses made it alright to ignore booked jobs and he said it was time solutions were found.

He said: "Is it reasonable to expect if I am driving looking for a place I might not find and a person puts their hand up that I bypass that person? A bird in the hand is worth six in the bush."

He said he would then try to contact the dispatcher to get them to send another driver.

He called on Government to make it compulsory for home owners to display a house number and house name and said some callers did little to identify themselves when cabs turned up.

"We get a vague description of a place. It's a pink house on the left hand side in a row of pink houses and no one comes out when we get there.

"They take ten minutes to come out and expect us to wait."

He said some areas such as Pink Beach Club and Cottage Colony were notorious for not being properly marked.

"You need to go and shine a light on the rooms but people might think you are prowling.

"There are many problems out there. Until we have some type of inquiry into the transport industry we'll never know."

Mr. Tucker said he had encountered long waits for cabs all over the world.

But given another example of a taxi that never came for a job booked at a major landmark on South Road in Southampton two hours beforehand at 7 p.m. on a Saturday night, Mr. Tucker said: "That dispatcher should be pulled over the coals."

Mr. Tucker said the taxi industry was unfairly singled out for criticism but nobody said anything about long waits for buses.

He said only the taxis were expected to be out in the early hours picking up passengers.

Asked if he wouldn't be upset if the Public Transport Board began putting on buses in the early hours of the morning, Mr. Tucker said: "I would not be the first to complain. I recognise the public have to get home.

"Tell him (Dr. Brown) to put on buses on 24 hours. Do it, put on buses in St. David's and Dockyard 24 hours a day. You won't find us complaining.

"There is no regulation stopping mini-buses running."