Technical experts engaged by the Transport Ministry and Transport Malta have handed in their first report on Arriva's bendy buses, a week after they were taken off the roads following three fires.

Minister Joe Mizzi said he did not know yet what was in the report.

Arriva has already handed in its report.

The 68 bendy buses were replaced by buses of the Unscheduled Bus Service - including many converted route buses from the old service.

A spokesman of the UBS told The Times of Malta that with schools set to reopen in less than three weeks’ time, the Unscheduled Bus Service was not in a position to guarantee that the public transport service would not be disrupted should the bendy buses remain out of service. 

Isle of Man watching Malta developments

Meanwhile, the Isle of Man is still agonising over whether to introduce bendy buses and it watching developments closely.

Bendy buses have been taken off the roads in Malta following a series of fires - a move that will further fuel demands not to introduce them here.

A month-long trial was carried out earlier this year at a cost of £10,000.

But the exercise was dogged by embarrassing breakdowns, it was reported. A replacement bus had to be shipped over after one bendy developed a fault on the first day of the trial. The same week a second one broke down. Then in the last week of the trial, there were two breakdowns in two days.