The Police have refused to comment on whether "challenges" that took their computer system down earlier this month were caused by a virus.

The Royal Gazette received an anonymous e-mail on June 8 suggesting the system had been rendered unusable by a virus and data may have been lost.

Asked about the issue, a Bermuda Police spokesman replied on June 9: "The Bermuda Police Service experienced some challenges with our computerised records management system last week.

"The network was shut down so that we could do a systematic assessment to ensure the problem was identified and repaired. The problem was addressed and the system is now fully functional. It is important to note that at no time was any information on the BPS network compromised."

The spokesman declined to comment further when asked if a virus had caused the problem.