yacht Sigil ran aground north of Dockyard.

The officers on board Rescue II were called out at 11.35 p.m. and arrived at the scene off Black Bay in Lagoon Park to find the vessel hard aground with two people on board.

The boat was pulled off the rocks and escorted to Mangrove Bay by 1 a.m.

On Wednesday evening a power boat with six people on board was left high and dry when it ran aground on a shoal just west of Hawkins Island in the Great Sound.

The incident occurred at 8.30 p.m. and there were no injuries to the passengers or damage to the boat, a Police spokesman reported.

The passengers were taken ashore and the boat was successfully re- floated on the 2 a.m. high tide and towed to shore where it was secured to its mooring.

EXTENSION TURNED DOWN PLN Extension turned down Planners have turned down an extension to the Hamilton Gospel Hall, claiming it would damage a Nature Reserve which has precious Bermuda Cedars.

The Development Applications Board said the extension, planned for North Shore Road, Pembroke, was the wrong size and that a technical officer should be consulted before any further plans are made because the church was historically important.

KNAPSACK STOLEN FROM BIKE CRM Knapsack stolen from bike Leaving his scooter and knapsack unattended momentarily resulted in a man becoming the victim of theft.

A Police spokesman reported yesterday that the knapsack was stolen from the Peugeot motor scooter while it was parked on Crow Lane in Pembroke on Thursday night.

The owner had left the items unattended briefly and returned to find the knapsack -- which contained books, keys, a Canon camera, a tape recorder, caps, a pipe and tobacco -- missing.

WOMAN IS HANDBAG VICTIM CRM Woman is handbag victim A local woman fell victim to a handbag snatch shortly after midnight on Tuesday as she rode along Palmetto Road in Devonshire.

The 32-year-old St. George's woman was heading east toward the North Shore Road/Barker's Hill roundabout when a man on another cycle grabbed her Harrods bag from the rear basket of her bike and sped away.

The man -- a black man in his late 20s -- was wearing a white helmet, Police said.

JET-SKIERS ANNOY MODELS CRM Jet-skiers annoy models Marine Police were busy on Tuesday afternoon with three separate incidents involving sharks, oil spills and swim wear models.

Officers on the Police launch Heron 3 responded to a report of jet- skiers annoying photographers and models at a Victoria's Secret photo shoot at Admiralty House Beach in Pembroke.

Upon arriving the officers found the jet skiers had left the scene but they remained at the North Shore location to monitor the area.

There were no further incidents to disrupt what is the third annual photo shoot on the Island for the top US firm.

Meanwhile Tuesday's reported sighting of a shark in the water off Scott's Bay in Sandys Parish has now been attributed to the sighting of a jack, said a Police spokesman.

The dorsal fin of a jack can give the appearance of a shark and officers searching for the alleged shark only saw the fin of a jack, said the spokesman.

And a report of an oil spill at Cove Valley in St. David's proved to be false as well yesterday after it was discovered that the spill was really a large amount of soap suds.

This is a natural occurrence during the summer months. There was no pollutant in the water, confirmed the spokesman.

POLICE LOOKING INTO THEFTS CRM Police looking into thefts Police officers are investigating a trio of thefts which occurred throughout the Island on Wednesday.

A spokesman reported that a Town Hill Road apartment in Flatts was forcibly entered sometime during the day and a maroon safety helmet and a silver chain were stolen.

During the evening a North Shore Road, Pembroke home was entered and an Olympus camera, Aiwa compact disc player, 30 compact discs, sunglasses, shirts, alcohol and a small amount of cash were stolen.

And a brazen thief nicked a pedal cycle from a Dundonald Street, Pembroke store in the afternoon.

The man asked a sales assistant if he could test ride the silver/grey Murray 21-speed cycle in the store, but rode out the door before he received an answer.

A DANGEROUS CIGARETTE! FIR A dangerous cigarette! An evening smoke led to a bizarre and costly turn of events for a Cottage Hill, Hamilton Parish man.

The man had been smoking in his backyard at midnight on Wednesday when he dropped the cigarette in what he thought was water. It turned out to be fuel.

The contents of the bucket ignited immediately, and the man -- in an attempt to extinguish the blaze -- picked up the bucket and threw the contents against a wall.

The fuel spread across a driveway where it came into contact with a white Nissan motor van, setting it alight.

By the time the four firefighters, in a truck from Clearwater Fire Station, arrived the fire was extinguished and no one was injured.

The van sustained damage to a front door, mirrors, bumper, tyre and indicator.

Police reported no suspicious circumstances. The neighbours agreed to "settle'' the matter privately.

A fire service estimate of the damage topped $2,000.

GUILTY OF MANY OFFENCES CTS Guilty of many offences A string of traffic offences and attempting to pervert the course of justice led to more than $2,000 of fines for Southampton man Kevin Tucker.

Tucker of Wellbottom, Camp Hill, had been caught riding an uninsured bike without a driver's licence or bike licence on July 17, but had claimed his name was Kevin Swan.

When Police spotted him riding exactly a month later in York Street, St.

George's he was stopped and found to be committing the same offences.

When he was approached by Police he again told them his name was Kevin Swan.

He was told he had four warrants for his arrest.

Tucker said: "Why are you arresting me? I'm going.'' Police caught the 20-year-old plumber after a brief chase and he was arrested.

The court heard that he had also been caught for various speeding, insurance and licence offences in April and December 1998 and February 1999.

Tucker pleaded guilty to all the offences before Senior Magistrate Will Francis yesterday and vowed not to do it again.