Hoteliers on the Island have set up a new crime beating scheme to improve security on their premises.

Hotel Watch, set up three months ago following consultations between the Police and hotel bosses, was devised after it was realised that hotels and tourists were becoming prime targets for criminals.

Under the system, neighbouring hotels and guest houses form themselves into small groups of up to six members.

If one hotel spots anything suspicious on their premises it is their duty to then fax through the information to the other members of the group to give them advance warning.

Sgt. Chris Wilcox of Bermuda police, who set up the scheme said: "It was a system launched with the hotel association as a self help crime prevention initiative.

"What we said was that they should form themselves into groups of four or five hotels and then, if anything should happen at one hotel then they can fax the others in the group as a way of letting them know.

"If somebody is going to prowl around one hotel the chances are they are going to go around others as well. There are about 80 hotels in the association and most of them were enthusiastic about the idea.

"We decided that each hotel should send a fax rather than make a telephone call because then there's something tangible. If a person can't answer the phone they'll still be able to see the fax later.'' The scheme has also been welcomed by tourism chiefs. A spokesman for the Department of Tourism said: "It would appear that hotels are a prime target for criminals and we have encouraged every measure that increases security in hotels to protect visitors.

"This is another initiative, along with giving out literature, that has helped increase awareness of security at hotels recently.'' Belmont Hotel general Manager Gordon Slatford said: "We did have one incident where a female guest was behaving in an overly provocative manner towards the other guests. We didn't want her in the hotel and she was apparently going around trying to get into other establishments. We were able to contact other hotels in the area and let them know about the situation. In a subtle way the system can be very useful.'' CRIME CRM