were drawn to the headline: "Dirty Bermuda boycotts summit.'' Eye-catching, too, was the first paragraph which started: "Bermuda, the most environmentally unsound country in the world ...'' Statistics then follow, indicating Bermuda as the world's leading per capita consumer.

The article reported part of a speech Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward gave to a fringe meeting at the Earth Summit in Brazil.

It was spotted by a Bermudian couple while in England, where the international magazine is printed.

"We told him about it thinking he would be interested,'' said Mrs. Jean Kelly.

Mr. Hayward attended last month's United Nations Conference on the Environment after Government declined to send a delegation.

Yesterday he was keen to distance himself from the headline, describing it as "ugly'' and "unflattering''.

But the opening paragraph, although not his words, were "on target''.

Statistics showed Bermuda was, per capita, at the top of the list of countries which contributed to environmental deterioration, Mr. Hayward explained.

He said his speech aimed to highlight the folly of holding Bermuda up as a model for economic development.

The Island, for example, had to import three-quarters of her fish, produced more garbage per capita than anyone else, and operated on borrowed technology.

"The globe cannot operate like Bermuda. Our lifestyle is not sustainable, and not transferable.'' Mr. Hayward said Government had tended to hold Bermuda up to other countries as an example.

He invited Third World countries, Western developing nations, and academic institutions to visit Bermuda and form their own impressions.