Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott yesterday said Government had never considered a straight swap of America's Consul General's Chelston mansion for responsibility for Longbird Bridge.

Mr. Scott said: "I have not mooted the notion of a physical quid pro quo.'' Mr. Scott is currently in charge of maintenance work on Longbird Bridge -- said still to be a US responsibility, even after the pull-out of the American forces on the Island.

And on Tuesday he floated the idea of a deal involving the $15 million Chelston and the US burden of replacing the ageing connection between Hamilton Parish and the airport with the rest of the Island.

Bermuda has already forked out $250,000 to repair the creaking bridge -- and both US and independent experts have warned it will have to be replaced soon, at an estimated cost of $15 to $20 million.

But Acting US Consul General Sylvia Hammond appeared to rule out any trade-off deal on Chelston and the bridge.

Mr. Scott, however, said if Government was to pay up for Chelston, the US should be reminded that they are in charge of Longbird Bridge under the terms of the original bases agreement dating back to the 1940s.

And he added: "Instead of paying X amount of dollars immediately, we could share it out over several budgetary periods.

"If the Americans want Bermuda to have it, a deal could be struck. If they don't, it was a good idea at the time.'' Mr. Scott stopped short of criticising the US for failing to be flexible on Chelston and its 14-acre estate, home of US Consuls General since the 1960s.

But he said: "We had hoped that the US would view it in the same regard as us -- it would seem to our way of thinking that they would have wanted to ensure that the property was utilised in the best interests of Bermuda's people.

"That is the basis on which we entered negotiations in the first place.''