YOUR report Bus Routes Among Most Dangerous (News Shopper, August 9) is sensationalist and misleading.

You suggest these bus routes are dangerous because of the high number of code red calls - but code red is not a byword for emergency.

In fact, it is a call made by bus drivers to the London Buses control centre about anything from roadworks, route diversions and calls for help if a passenger is taken ill to more serious incidents which may require police assistance.

Is the number of code reds high? As a proportion of six million people who travel on more than 7,000 buses every day, it is not.

Is it rising? Yes, because we are encouraging drivers to report everything which affects their journey, no matter how small.

Transport for London is not complacent about anti-social behaviour.

CCTV has been installed on every bus and there are now more than 1,200 uniformed officers patrolling the bus network.

Every bus also now has direct radio contact with a 24-hour control room so passengers on the bus network are better protected than ever before.

The code red system is essential to keeping buses moving as well as providing drivers with the instant back-up they sometimes need as they help millions of Londoners go about their daily lives.

Mike Weston
Operations director
London Buses