Business leaders want an early referendum to get "the result they want'', Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan said yesterday.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette at the RIMS international insurance conference in San Francisco, Sir John said: "Government is very aware of the views being expressed by the local business community.

"There is concern by certain local businesses who will try to sort of get this done as fast as they can to produce the type of results that they want.'' But Sir John said the referendum would not take place until all the information on the issue had been given to the public.

And he did not rule out the possibility that the vote could take place in December, as reported in Tuesday's Royal Gazette .

"We're going to do it as right as we can to make sure that when people look at it, at least we would have done our job and that's the most important thing,'' he said.

Sir John's statement came amid rising concern among business leaders about the effect of the lengthy debate on the international business sector.

Yesterday, former Premier and Bank of Butterfield chairman the Hon. Sir David Gibbons called for a summer referendum and for a date to be set as soon as possible.

But Sir John said: "We're going to do it the proper way by making sure the public has the information and that there is a reasonable time for the information to be disseminated to the public.'' Asked if the referendum would be held after the summer, he said: "I think that we will keep our options open until we have the facts and the information available.

"All I can say is that the referendum must be held by not later than December 31, 1995. And, we intend to hold the referendum prior to that date.'' Sir David said there was no reason the vote could not be held before Cup Match.

Sir David, who was Premier from 1977 to 1981, said the uncertainty surrounding Independence was "increasingly a matter of concern,'' in international business circles.

"We are losing business, and if this continues, these things feed upon themselves and they get out of proportion,'' he said.

"No great damage will be done if the thing can be dealt with in July. If you drag it on for another few months, I think serious harm could be done.'' It was true that many Bermudians travelled during August, he said. "I cannot for the life of me see why the referendum couldn't be just before Cup Match.

Everybody is here for Cup Match.'' With the holidays set for August 3 and 4, Sir David suggested August 1 or 2, or July 27.

And the date should be set quickly, "so people could formulate travel plans''.

It was not like a general election, in which the polling date was kept secret until the right moment for political reasons, he said. For an "irreversible'' and "very important'' decision, "I would have thought that to give a few months notice would have been a very sensible thing to do''.

Government should proceed "as quickly as possible'', Sir David said. While he appreciated it would take time to prepare 15 to 20 position papers on constitutional issues, two months should be more than adequate.

"They can ask the Attorney General as a matter of urgency to proceed,'' and get them through Cabinet and caucus, he said. "They're information papers, they don't have to be debated in the House.'' Sir David, who travels extensively on business, said the Independence debate was stirring concern around the world, even being discussed in the People's Republic of China, which would take over Hong Kong as a new province in 1997.

In London, Guernsey, and elsewhere, "you conduct director's meetings, and then you spend half an hour explaining what all this is about''. It's very worrying. The uncertainty is not going away,'' and "we must appreciate we are not getting business we otherwise would.'' Mr. Anthony Goodfellow, chairman of the international companies division of the Chamber of Commerce, said the referendum should be held "the sooner, the better''.

"If we could have it tomorrow, that wouldn't be too soon.'' Uncertainty was creating anxiety for businesses already in Bermuda, and Mr. Goodfellow was sure it was driving new business away.

"They've had quite enough opportunity to disseminate all the information, and they've got plenty of time still to do it before July or August,'' he said.

"Let's get the thing out of the way.''