tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills.

Creditors of the couple, who ran the Blue Oyster Restaurant in Dockyard, were taking legal advice yesterday on what action they could take.

The couple left the Island without notice despite telling some creditors recently that they had no intention of leaving.

Mrs. Meade's father, Mr. Harold Madeiros, who was seen at the airport on Sunday, denied any knowledge of their whereabouts.

"I've not seen them for a few days. I can't tell you where they are. I don't know anything.'' Before hanging up, he added: "You'd better try Brazil at this moment. That's where they are.'' It is not known whether the Meades intend to return to Bermuda to answer a writ filed several days ago at Supreme Court by their commercial landlord, Mr.

Tony Smith.

They have until Friday to contact the court, after which the sum claimed may be awarded against them by default.

Mr. Smith, who runs A. F. Smith Trading, said yesterday: "They owe us thousands of dollars. We've been trying to collect it for a while but without any success.'' The Meades' sudden departure came to light yesterday when the Blue Oyster failed to open for business after its normal closure day on Monday.

Word soon spread among the local business community that they had gone to start a new life in Canada.

Mr. Smith took matters into his own hands and quickly arranged for the locks at the Blue Oyster to be changed.

"The news of their departure came as a complete shock to me,'' he said. "As far as I know, they don't have any assets here apart from the restaurant equipment they left behind.'' It is understood the Meades may have gone to run a restaurant in a ski resort called Whistler, in British Columbia.

In the past, the couple had made no secret of the fact that they wanted to emigrate to the Vancouver area.

But creditors said they had been assured by the Meades that they would not flee until all debts had been repaid.

"Nobody was expecting them to leave like this,'' said Mrs. Nancy Gosling, president of Gosling's, which supplied the Blue Oyster's wines and spirits.

"They told everyone they owed money to that they would stay and work things out. Everyone decided to be sympathetic and give them time to turn their affairs around.

"Mrs. Meade said she'd heard the rumours that they were about to leave but said it was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard.'' Mrs. Gosling added: "They owe money to a lot of people. They owe us thousands of dollars.'' Other creditors are thought to include the Bank of Bermuda, food wholesaler Butterfield and Co., Viking Foods and Air Care.

Mrs. Gosling said Mrs. Meade was eight months pregnant and speculated that she may have decided to fly while she was medically still able to. The Meades already have a two-year-old girl.

Mr. and Mrs. Meade have been trying to sell the Blue Oyster restaurant for about a year, for a sum thought to be in the region of $650,000.

Mr. Smith would not let them out of their lease, which has another two years to run, until they had found a tenant suitable to him.

Talks have been held with Mr. Gary Lamb, who owns the Black Horse Bar in St.

David's, and it is believed negotiations have reached an advanced stage.

Several people said that it appeared as if the Meades had "lost interest'' in the restaurant over the last five months, especially after the Frog and Onion bar/restaurant opened nearby and took away much of its business.