went to the highest court in the land.

Bermuda Perfumery boss Mr. Colin Curtis, who says his business has been damaged by rummies, is fighting to get alcohol banned from the shelves of Enterprise Grocery.

The store is 150 yards away from his business in Hamilton Parish, and he says loiterers have vandalised his property and dumped syringes.

In April, Chief Justice the Hon. Sir James Astwood overturned a Liquor Licensing Authority decision to refuse a licence. Mr. Curtis accused rummies of tearing down signs at the perfumery in celebration.

Police, residents and the Grotto Bay Beach hotel have also objected to the grocery's licence. Objectors say undesirables called the "Spruce Tree Club'' hang out nearby, and point to the knifing of the last store manager during a 1990 robbery.

The store has been closed since 1991 and the MarketPlace supermarket firm wants to run it. They say the store may not survive a liquor ban.

Yesterday Mr. Curtis, described as the leading objector to the licence, took his protest to the Court of Appeal and asked its three judges to overrule Sir James.

Perfumery lawyer Mr. Mark Diel told them of the "rather long and convoluted series of hearings'' in the case.

He said Sir James should not have considered the previous appeal by MarketPlace against the LLA's refusal of a licence.

The perfumery and other objectors were not notified about that appeal taking place, he said. This meant they could not prepare a case against it.

"Mr. Curtis did not know of the appeal until he read the articles in the newspaper afterwards.'' Mr. Diel also objected to the fact that MarketPlace lawyer Mr. Michael Mello gave new evidence to Sir James.

This fresh material included a "rather sensationalistic'' Royal Gazette report of a licensing hearing, he said.

Articles about recent licensing decisions had been given to Sir James as part of the store's argument that the LLA had granted licences in similar cases.

But newspaper stories were not official law reports, Mr. Diel complained.

And in any case, he said, the "similar'' cases involved nightclubs and a restaurant, not stores with off-licences.

Objectors to the licence did not have minor complaints, and they believed the nuisance they suffered could not be dealt with by conditions attached to a licence.

He disagreed with Sir James' view that the MarketPlace had been unfairly treated by the LLA.

Mr. Mello told the court he had submitted Royal Gazette stories because Bermuda did not have official reports of licensing hearings.

He said although he had not been able to find a similar case involving a store, the nightclub cases involved the same principle.

The grocery had been selling liquor for about 40 years with no objection to its licence. A lot of money had been spent on renovations in the expectation it would re-open.

MarketPlace had had similar problems at other stores and had dealt with them using security guards and "no trespass'' letters.

It was "grossly unjust'' that the store had never been given a chance to address the problems complained about, he said.

MarketPlace had legitimate expectations -- that the licence would be renewed and that they would be treated the same as other licensees.

Mr. Mello said he accepted Mr. Curtis did not have formal notice of the last appeal, but he pointed out Crown Counsel Mr. Steve Harrison was present to argue for refusing the licence.

"I don't think, with all respect to Mr. Diel, that he would have done any better than Mr. Harrison.'' He said MarketPlace had decided not to re-open the grocery before an Appeal Court ruling. They do not want to take over the shop without a licence, he added.

The Appeal Court's decision is expected next week.