After months of "insults and bickering" from scores of on-line debaters, Bermuda's most popular blog site has been brought to a halt indefinitely.

The man behind 'A Limey in Bermuda' has announced he is taking a sabbatical after growing fed up of handling libellous comments from contributors to his website.

Phillip Wells said he has also become weary of stories about "incompetence, dishonesty and self-importance" which he says dominate the news in Bermuda.

A Limey in Bermuda has transformed into one of the Island's main forums of political and social debate since Briton Mr. Wells launched it as a way of keeping in touch with his friends in the UK more than three years ago. It attracted numerous comments on topical Bermudian issues, mainly of a political nature, on a daily basis.

However, fellow bloggers believe it must have been an exhausting task for Mr. Wells to guard the site from libellous posts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They also suggest that after recently becoming a new dad, Mr. Wells, 34, will want to dedicate more time to his family.

In a statement on his website, under the headline "On sabbatical", Mr. Wells said: "I'm taking a leave of absence from blogging, for an indefinite period.

"I'm tired of the same old stories of incompetence, dishonesty and self-importance that make up much of the local news.

"I'm tired of writing about them, and rehashing the same old arguments again and again and again. "I'm tired of the insults and the bickering; tired of having to read every comment and determine what's fair comment and what's libellous or a personal attack."

In a reference to the infamous e-mail accidentally sent by former Premier Alex Scott to entertainer Tony Brannon in 2005, Mr. Wells added: "And I'm tired of taking crap from people — whether they look like Tony Brannon or not. After three and a half years of running this site, I need a break."

Mr. Wells, a software developer, said he hopes to return later in 2006, adding: "Thanks for reading, and for your contributions. I'll be back when my batteries have recharged, hopefully later this year."

The Tony Brannon incident was one of the hottest ever topics of debate on the Limey website, with scores of comments from people debating what Mr. Scott had meant when he mistakenly sent the entertainer a message stating he was tired of taking "crap" from people "who sound and look like" Mr. Brannon.

Mr. Scott apologised to Mr. Brannon in an advertisement in The Royal Gazette, and denied accusations that his comment was racist.

Blogger Christian Dunleavy says his own Politics.bm blog site is easier to manage because he does not allow people to post comments. Mr. Dunleavy said he could understand Mr. Wells' frustrations. "I think people are irresponsible and immature," he said. "Phil tracks the comments pretty closely, but if you have to do that 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it becomes exhausting and demoralising. He's got a job and a family and other stuff to do.

"For me, it comes back to the nature of politics in Bermuda — I think it sucks. And it was all magnified in a big way on Phil's site. "If you could wade through 95 percent of it, there were some good comments, but most of it was the same stuff, over and over again. "I don't think Phil ever expected it to be a focal point, but people turned it into what it was."

Mr. Dunleavy said the absence of the Limey could be good news for businesses on the Island. "Productivity in Bermuda's offices will increase," he explained. "There was a core group of people who debated with each other, and a larger group of readers who sat silently and observed."

Sean Soares, who runs the Imho.bm blog, said: "Phil's a new dad and I would imagine that he doesn't have much time to focus on the blog until things settle a bit. It's not unheard of, I took a hiatus when the same thing happened to me. He'll be back, but his priorities have changed understandably."