British long-term residents in Bermuda have backed Government proposals to give more security to people who have worked on the Island for decades.

And Long-term Residents' Association spokesman Peter Haynes said a Government Green Paper on the plight of people who have clocked up 20-years-plus in Bermuda was a positive step.

He said: "Our concerns were amply taken care of in the Green Paper and I think they have brought forward some of the problems which really needed to be raised on behalf of long-term residents.'' Mr. Haynes, an electrical engineer who has lived and worked in Bermuda for 26 years and who has two grown-up daughters with Bermudian status, said Britons were the biggest single group of long-term residents.

But he added: "They are also the ones who don't want to make a lot of noise over this.

"One of the main objectives of our group is that we wanted to do it in a civilised and quiet manner because we know the political issues involved.'' He said the British group -- like organisations representing Portuguese and West Indian long-term residents -- welcomed suggestions that a US-style green card system might be the way to offer security to non-Bermudians.

Mr. Haynes added: "The main thing is people who have applied for status time and time again and who have been unable to be given status because of restrictions on numbers should have some chance of being able to become Bermudian or some sort of security.'' But he said, like the other groups with an interest in the issue, that status grants should not be ruled totally out of bounds in the future.

He added: "The overall consensus we get is that it would be nice to have some permanence here and be able to more or less grow old with your children who have Bermudian citizenship.'' Among the suggestions put forward for discussion are the Working Residents Card, giving the right to live and work on the Island indefinitely, and an amnesty allowing status for residents of 20 years standing or more.

Also put up for debate was the waiving of the legal requirement for three-yearly advertising of jobs held by long-term residents.

Labour and Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness did not rule out long-term residents being able to buy a house on an equal footing with Bermudians -- but said voting rights would remain a privilege of status.

Mr. Haynes said that the Green Paper was "very well done and comprehensive'' and represented the points of view of all sides.

He added: "I think many people would like to become Bermudian -- a major part of that is to be with their children.

"If the ultimate decision is just security in the job market and at the end of it a means to stay with those children, that would mean a lot.

"The Green Paper is obviously for discussion and it all depends on the resolution of it and how it's voted in the House of Assembly -- we would like to be hopeful about it.'' HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY HOA GOVERNMENT GVT