MR. PETER WOOD, chief executive of Direct Line insurance company, has kept his title as Britain's highest-paid executive with a bonus of 18.2 million ($27.1 million), according to figures released last week.

Mr. Wood's pay is linked to the performance of Direct Line, which reported that pre-tax profits had more than trebled to 50.2 million ($74.72 million) in the year to September 30 from 15.1 million ($22.48 million).

But Direct Line's parent company, the Royal Bank of Scotland, has moved to end Mr. Wood's lucrative pay deal with a 24 million ($35.72 million) buy-out.

He is to receive 4 million ($5.95 million) for bonuses due in the year to January 13, plus 13 million pounds ($19.35 million) in lieu of future bonuses.

He will also get a special 7 million ($10.42 million) payment made into his pension plan.

Mr. Wood founded Direct Line, a car and household insurance company best-known for its red telephone on wheels symbol, in April, 1985, with funds provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In 1990, he agreed to switch to a bonus payment system which earned him 1.6 million ($2.38 million) on top of his basic salary in the year to September 30, 1991. Another 6 million ($8.9 million) was paid out for 1992. * * * ALS BERMUDA, apparently, is not the only place which suffers problems with horse droppings on its main shopping streets.

Authorities in the southern English seaside town of Hastings have told a local farmer to dress his horses in diapers to keep streets clear of manure.

The town's environmental health department says it may sound funny but the problem is serious.

The horse owner in question runs horse-drawn tours of the city and uses nine horses to deliver produce.

Local cafe owners complained about the quantity of droppings left by the horses.

The farmer says he's not sure where he will find diapers big enough for his animals ... and he worries they will be uncomfortable.

* * * ALS A BUDDHIST monk in southern Thailand wants six million dollars for his snow-white Siamese cat with one completely blue eye.

The monk says many people asked to buy the two-year-old female feline ...

but none was willing to pay the asking price. Some superstitious Thais think blue-eyed cats bring good luck.

* * * CTS BANKRUPT financial adviser Roger Levitt, whose victims included thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, walked free from a British court on Friday after pleading guilty to fraudulent trading involving 21 million ($31 million).

Judge John Laws told Levitt, who had been one of Britain's richest men when the Roger Levitt Group was riding a wave of investors' money in the 1980s, that his actions had been "thoroughly and markedly dishonest''.

Levitt, 44, was sentenced to 180 hours of community service which Laws said was the most suitable punishment for his offences. He was also forbidden to serve as a company director for seven years.

Earlier in the week, Levitt surprised the court by pleading guilty to the charges just two weeks into a case which had been expected to last for four months.

The charges covered a 20-month period up to December, 1990, when Levitt's company crashed with debts of 34 million ($50 million).

To keep financial regulators at bay, Levitt handed bogus documents to investigators probing his company's affairs.

The company's books were "cooked'' to show a profit instead of a loss, the prosecution told the court.

False paperwork also purported to show fees of almost 21 million ($31.12 million) had been received by the company as a result of personal advisory work performed by Levitt.