The cash-strapped Hamiltonian Hotel and Island Club has staved off a winding up order after Global Construction Ltd. tried to recover $120,000 owed for building work.

However the case will resume in two weeks time after the Hamiltonian put in a counter-claim for rent from Global.

Global?s lawyer, Mark Diel, said the company had an agreement to use a unit rent-free and he voiced irritation at the Hamiltonian?s eleventh-hour counter claim.

He said: ?It?s a clear and transparent attempt by the company that cannot pay a debt to delay proceedings by creating a dispute where none exists.?

He said the company should be wound up and an official receiver appointed.

Hamiltonian lawyer Lesley Basden said Global had been occupying a unit at the Langton Hill property for six years.

She said: ?It?s wholly unreasonable for the petitioner to use the property of the company for six years and then turn around and claim $120,000.?

With a monthly rent of $2,500 Global owed the Hamiltonian $180,000 said Ms Basden but Mr. Diel said if the hotel had calculated the rent at that rate then the $180,000 would have ran out 14 months ago.

He said: ?There own case is there is 14 months of arrears but only yesterday did they decide to litigate. It just doesn?t work.?

Chief Justice Richard Ground said he was troubled by the fact that Global, as the petitioner, occupied a part of the property but he said there was no affidavit about a rental agreement.

And he said Global had been given no time to respond to the rent claim.

He awarded costs from yesterday?s morning?s hearing to Mr. Diel after complaining about the late filing of Hamiltonian?s evidence.

The Hamiltonian has been deep in debt for years.

The Auditor General?s 2003 report revealed the Hamiltonian was more than $200,000 in arrears on Government pension contributions, $400,000 in arrears on payroll tax and more than $200,000 in arrears on land tax.

And Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) president Derrick Burgess said last December the hotel had not made any social insurance contributions for more than 20 years.