and two of its three television stations to go off the air for intermittent periods throughout the afternoon.

The outages were apparently caused by power lines being blown into overhanging branches by high winds from the fringes of Hurricane Gert.

The only radio stations left functioning during the periods, occurring between around 11 a.m. and five p.m., were Mix 106.1 FM and the Emergency Broadcast System at 100.1 FM which was broadcasting due to the imminent approach of Hurricane Gert on an independent generator.

Also unaffected was VSB TV-11 which stayed on the air throughout the day.

Bermuda Electric Light Company spokesperson Robin McPhee said: "At about 11.20 a.m. we received reports of a power loss in the area of Frog Lane. Crews re-routed power along a more secure link but this also went down, affecting a section along Middle Road in Devonshire and around the Arboretum.'' She continued: "Power was restored at about 5.30 p.m. when it was re-routed through lines along Parson's Lane.'' Ms McPhee said the incident showed exactly what can happen if people do not trim their trees so that they are away from power lines.

She said contract workers will be out today to make sure that branches are cut when Hurricane Gert brushes past tomorrow.