Camouflaging a fast food franchise under a local name would be hypocritical, according to one of the men behind the McDonald's bid.

In addition, a fast food restaurant could tap the tourist business and earn much-needed foreign currency, said Hamilton West MP Maxwell Burgess.

Last week the Government appointed Committee on Franchise Policy recommended that foreign fast food restaurants be allowed to continue.

But it said they should face strict controls -- including using a local name with the name of the franchise hardly visible in three-inch lettering.

Maxwell Burgess, Sir John Swan's partner in Grape Bay Ltd, gave submissions to the committee, which issued its report last Friday.

The report said that when Mr. Burgess was asked about removing the McDonald's label from a Bermuda-based franchise operation, he referred to what he "perceived to be the hypocrisy inherent in letting a McDonald's into Bermuda and then trying to camouflage its identity under another name''.

"He also referred to the fact that there were several examples of McDonald's and other franchises successfully integrating into certain areas without blemishing or compromising the cultural or environmental landscape,'' added the report.

The Franchise Committee, chaired by Tourism Minister David Dodwell, recommended that foreign fast food franchises should be allowed to continue, but under some strict controls.

They should not be allowed at the Airport and areas such as St. George's would have the power to prevent a franchise opening.

In addition they would have to trade under a local name, could not look like their affiliates from the outside and the interior, which would be allowed to look like the franchise, should not be visible by passers-by.

There should also be a Franchise Commission and any existing fast food franchises would have a year to comply with any new legislation based on the committee's report.

According to the report, submissions were also made by Grape Bay Ltd. -- but no name was mentioned.

The report said: "Grape Bay's submissions stressed that many tourists who came here found that there were limited enticements to encourage them to return.

"The submission added that a food franchise operation, properly managed and presented, had enormous potential for tapping family business, tourist and local.

"It was further argued that the US dollar earning potential of such an operation was considerable, especially if the tourist family market was tapped successfully.'' The Franchise Committee's report be debated by the House of Assembly before the Christmas break. If it is accepted by the House, it is possible that legislation based on the report could be drawn up.

Government could move quickly and introduce its legislation before the Prohibited Restaurant Bill becomes law -- assuming the Bill is passed by the House of Assembly.

Because it was thrown out by the Senate last summer it has to be re-passed in the House, but cannot become law until one year after it was first passed by MPs, which would be next June.

RESTAURANT EAT HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY HOA