I HATE to disillusion Roz Agar, (Letters, April 8), but the use of open-top buses, of one sort or another, for trimming trees along bus routes is not a new idea. It has been going on for many years.

Way back in the 1940s and 50s many bus companies had double-decks specially "decapitated" for the purpose and often the companies themselves used to do the tree-lopping.

Nowadays, as in the case of our company, operators often provide the bus and the local authority does the pruning. East Yorkshire Motor Services has an open-top bus specially converted for the purpose although, as in York, open-top buses used on regular tourist services are often seconded for tree-lopping purposes too.

Observant readers will have noticed that many new double-deck buses have a protective bar on the nearside of the upper deck to protect the windscreen, which is often an expensive item, but roadside trees still need special pruning because the damage they can do is considerable.

Peter Shipp,

Chairman and chief executive,

EYMS Group Ltd,

Anlaby Road, Hull.

Updated: 09:30 Monday, April 25, 2005