A Canadian radio station based in the hometown of murdered teenager Rebecca Middleton will be broadcasting live from Bermuda today.

Mix 97 in Belleville, Ontario, is offering listeners a free holiday for two on the Island, which it hopes will help heal the bitterness many Canadians feel over Bermuda's handling of Ms Middleton's killing.

Canadians organised a boycott of the Island in 1998 in protest at the failure by authorities here to convict anyone of the brutal murder and rape of 17-year-old Ms Middleton in 1996.

Mix 97 news director John Ferguson admitted the station was apprehensive about the competition and had received letters of protest from angry listeners, but he said most were positive.

The station is broadcasting two live shows from the Sonesta Beach Hotel this morning and this afternoon when it will announce the winners.

Mr. Ferguson worked for VSB for 12 years until 1979 and is still a consultant to the station. He is now news director of Mix 97 and two other radio stations in Belleville.

He told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "It's a rekindling of friendship between Belleville and Bermuda because we have broadcast from Bermuda before on some of our other stations.

"We were a little nervous when we started the contest and we were expecting some adverse reaction.

"We had five letters asking why we were promoting it, saying it might be in poor taste, but the people appear to be receiving it positively and it is a positive thing. Time heals and Canadians, in general, really like Bermuda."

He said the idea for the contest came from Shelley Wilgen, an afternoon co-host at Mix 97, who worked at VSB this summer.

"It was Shelley's idea. She worked for a week at VSB and thought it would be a good idea."

Sonesta has offered free rooms for the contest and Bermuda Department of Tourism has arranged free air tickets.

The Canadians have interviewed Johnny Barnes, Tom Butterfield at Masterworks, Swizzle Inn owners Jay Correia, and VSB weatherman and radio host Peter Lewis.

The station is hoping Hamilton town crier Ed Christopher will open this morning's show.