Residents have been urged to get out to bars and restaurants to help keep them in business in the wake of Hurricane Fabian.

Phil Barnett, the chairman of the restaurants and nightclub division of the Chamber of Commerce, said his organisation will probably be lobby Government for payroll tax relief - which was given after September 11.

Mr. Barnett, the boss of the Hog Penny, Pickled Onion and Barracuda Grill, said: "We are hoping it will be business as usual and we are putting out a call to all of Bermuda to appreciate that their going out will keep Bermudians and others working.

"Find a reason to celebrate. Making it through the hurricane is reason enough to celebrate and by going out to frequent your favourite establishment you will keep those dollars rolling in and keep people working.

"For most of us it is business as usual, but we hope we can get the tourist product back on as soon as possible because the closed hotels will hurt us.

"Everyone has been through a lot in the last couple of years and even last month we had a Chamber meeting and here we were seven months on into the year and many restaurants have still not gone into the black yet.

"Government will be very aware of our plight and I can definitely see us making overtones like we did after September 11 to get relief on payroll tax. Government listened then and hopefully they will listen again."