Government's server was down yesterday morning leaving thousands of people across the Island without e-mail and Internet access.

Anyone with a .bm e-mail address had messages delayed. The server problem also caused Internet connection issues.

Government's server was last down in November.

Its Information Technology Office handles all .bm traffic; the whole Island depends on its servers.

An IT professional said: "If those servers go down, we're dead. We can't send or receive e-mails. On Island, people may be able to receive e-mails but off Island, no.

"It's affecting all Internet service providers for example Logic, North Rock and Transact."

The issue was resolved by lunchtime yesterday.

A Government spokesman said: "There are three servers that deliver the .bm service to the internet and two of these servers were affected by separate incidents. While the affected servers will have impacted services it is important to note that not all service was impacted due to the redundant design which maintains a level of service. The issues were rectified by 11.03 a.m. and service restored to normal."