with Ms Gordon possibly facing a bill for work on the house.

And official Auditor Larry Dennis insisted he pointed out potential pitfalls in a deal to give Ms Gordon a housing allowance.

He added that some spending on the house -- leased in Ms Gordon's name -- may have to be paid back.

But Ms Gordon said all expenditure had been settled by then-Deputy Governor Peter Willis, former Commissioner of Police Colin Coxall and his successor Jean-Jacques Lemay.

And she said she had taken no part in deciding what needed to be done to the house.

Ms Gordon was warned early in her Premiership that her family home in North Hamilton was a security risk -- and that she had to move or Police could not guarantee her personal safety.

And she insisted: "There are no excesses in this house -- anything which was deemed to be extra I paid for myself.'' That included air conditioning in some of the rooms and all of the kitchen appliances.

And she added: "The rest of the stuff stays within the house if and when I move -- that doesn't come with me anyway.'' The allowance also ended when Ms Gordon ceased to be Premier and the full cost of the rent fell on her.

Mr. Dennis, an independent watchdog, said he had been called in to discuss the decision to give Ms Gordon a $5,000 a month housing allowance -- but insisted he had never seen a lease.

He added: "There is this property which ought to be the Premier's official residence, but it's not the Premier's residence and there was money spent on it beyond security.'' And Mr. Dennis said: "I will report on it when the matter comes up if the situation has not been rectified.

"I'm assuming everything will be regularised before I get there.'' Mr. Dennis met the then-Premier in August after he was called to discuss the situation.

He said: "I was just brought in, I suppose, because the Premier wanted me to know what was happening.'' And Mr. Dennis said: "The Premier probably didn't want me to discover this on my own -- she was up front about it.'' He added: "I told them the best thing to do now would be to regularise the situation and make the lease in the Government's name.'' Mr. Dennis said a housing allowance was appropriate use of Government funds.

He explained: "I accept the former Commissioner of Police's concerns were very serious. And money spent on security for a private residence would be appropriate.'' But he insisted: "If you have to cut corners to get something done quickly, at some point you have to regularise it.'' Mr. Dennis, however, added: "Cabinet might decide it was reasonable to spend public money on a private lease.'' But Ms Gordon said: "All of this was dealt with from the perspective that it had to be a house suitable for a Premier.

"Between the then-Deputy Governor and Commissioner of Police it was decided.

"I don't have the technical expertise -- I was not approving anything one way or another.'' Ms Gordon added: "If I owned the house, I would not have a problem with paying money -- but I don't. I'm a tenant.'' She added: "I was told this whole thing will be deemed security because it's for the wellbeing of the Premier of Bermuda.'' HOUSING HSG