(Adds statement by Tourism Secretariat, MHRA warning)

The Unscheduled Bus Service will not be operating as from tomorrow, the UBS said this evening.

The UBS said it did not form part of the Transport Federation, which ordered the strike by the operators of public transport.

However the members of the UBS could not continue to operate in circumstances such as those encountered today, with roads blocked and a number of members attacked and vehicles damaged.

The UBS said it condemned the violent incidents.

It also insisted it was against changes in the licensing of public transport vehicles without prior consultation.

Meanwhile the Secretariat for Tourism this evening condemned the incidents which took place today, notably the blockage of roads to Valletta and the airport and attacks on tourist coaches. Such incidents, the secretariat said, were very detrimental to tourism, and the tourism season was approaching its peak. Such incidents only served to endanger the livelihood of thousands of workers in the tourism sector, the secretariat said.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) also condemned the actions taken by public transport service providers and said that this type of action causes untold damage to the image of Malta as a tourism destination and to Product Malta as a whole.

The MHRA said its members worked tirelessly to ensure that visitors arriving at MIA were able to get to their hotels without any problems despite the efforts of a small number of taxi drivers. The MHRA together with officials from MIA and the MTA ensured that any inconvenience was kept to a minimum.

The MHRA pointed out that taxis located outside key hotels amount to over 10% of the licensed taxis locally.

"The MHRA would not hesitate to issue directives to these said hotels to terminate agreements with these taxis if they persist in not providing the necessary service to their guests. Ultimately their service can easily be replaced by call outs to chauffeur driven cars," the association warned.