There was some frustration within the Department of Infrastructure over the way bus drivers were able to self certify sick leave during TT, including one who was pictured at trackside while off sick.

Internal emails from the DoI have been released following an FoI request from Gef and the Manx Independent.

On Sunday, June 5, then minister Tim Crookall emailed an unnamed person asking how many buses had been cancelled that day.

Mr Crookall said: ‘It’s all very well saying please bear with us but we don’t appear to be able to tell people about cancellations. I’m picking up on Twitter about two Ramsey buses, 2.40pm and 3.10pm not going.

‘There is obviously something going very wrong when only four of the starred drivers work. How many drivers do we have off on the sick at the moment? How are things looking for tomorrow and the rest of the week?’

In response Mr Crookall was told the DoI didn’t ‘set out to cancel any services’ but many ended up 20 minutes, or in the case of others much longer, late, which was the now infamous comment made in Tynwald by Mr Crookall.

The following day, a second email sent to Mr Crookall said that ‘staffing is obviously very tight but we are planning to get through and carry the people’.

It added: ‘If a journey doesn’t happen at the moment it is very much because the bus is delayed in its previous journey and it is probably too late to tell people via social media that it is not operating or it is operating very late.

‘There are currently 18 of the full time drivers off sick which is 3xs the normal level and in my belief is as a result of the government policy that you self-certify for such a long period. Pictures of a driver at the track side enjoying the TT racing whilst on the sick are somewhat irritating but we seem to be able to do little about it.’

Throughout TT, there were 175 buses cancelled, despite the claim by Mr Crookall that no buses were axed.