The Bermuda Regiment was put on standby last night as the prison officers dispute looked set to drag on into its fourth day.

However, Attorney General Dame Lois Browne-Evans said immediate arrests were unlikely even though for the second day running officers defied a Government injunction forbidding them to strike.

Last night officers met at Westgate but Bermuda Prison Officers' Association (BPOA) chairman Michael Tuzo could not be reached for comment.

The meeting was not thought to involve Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Terry Lister, although Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess was said to be there.

Recently Mr. Lister said calling up the Regiment would be the last resort.

He could not be reached for comment but The Royal Gazette understands that the 60-plus corporals' cadre were put on standby to help provide cover in the prisons dispute.

Currently the Island's three prisons are being staffed by a skeleton crew of prison officers.

At one point during the morning prisoners cried out from their cells that they were not being fed properly.

Police paddy wagons arrived at Westgate Correctional Facility yesterday morning to take prisoners to court.

Being put on standby is just one step away from being embodied, said a Regiment source.

The men have been told to report to camp tonight but they could be deployed sooner.

Asked if strikers would be arrested today after defying the injunction Dame Lois said: "I don't know. I have to go back to court.

"I can't just go and arrest people. I would not go back to court until meeting with the Premier and Cabinet to decide what to do next.

"I will meet with the Premier first, she will decide whether to call the Cabinet.

"You can't get into court the moment people defy it (the law)."

Last October teachers also broke the law as they continued striking after their dispute was referred to a Trade Dispute Tribunal which made further action illegal.

Dame Lois denied the law was being mocked. She said: "They have a right to withdraw their labour."

She said she believed in that dispute teachers had been docked pay for their illegal stand.

Prison officers are striking in a bid to oust unpopular Commissioner John Prescod whom they accuse of being autocratic and ignoring most of the recommendations of a board of inquiry into the service.

BPOA officials met Government at Cabinet Office yesterday morning but the meeting broke up at 12.30 p.m. without achieving a breakthrough.

Mr. Burgess, who is also a Mr. Burgess, who is also a Government backbencher, joined the prison union delegation and its lawyer Delroy Duncan for the talks.

The union team refused to comment when they left Cabinet Office but stood around the car park for around 15 minutes afterwards deciding their next move after the talks broke down.

Labour and Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister would only say as he left the building: "They (talks) are going fine. We're trying to get a resolution and hopefully we'll get there soon."

But Mr. Lister confirmed the sides would not be resuming negotiations in the afternoon.

The strikers planned a mass meeting at BIU headquarters for 3 p.m., but this was later postponed to 7 p.m. and then moved to Westgate.

Meanwhile, at around 1.30 p.m. junior Legislative Affairs Minister Sen. Michael Scott, who handed the injunction to the union on Monday night, tried to deliver a letter to the pickets at Westgate.

The strikers refused to accept the letter, but Sen Scott read it to them. The contents of the letter have not been disclosed.

Mr. Duncan said on Tuesday evening that Philip Perinchief of the Attorney General's chambers had warned him that Government would seek an order for contempt of court if the staff did not go back to work.

It could not be confirmed yesterday what would happen to the strikers if the court found them to be in contempt of court, although they could be arrested or the union could be fined.

The injunction, obtained under the 1981 Prison Officers (Discipline) Rules, named 158 people.