he is leading the fight against a controversial local liquor licence.

Mr. Colin Curtis, of the Bermuda Perfumery, has lodged an appeal against a Supreme Court decision to allow a licence for the Enterprise Grocery in Hamilton Parish.

Mr. Curtis says he has taken the action because he is so annoyed with constant acts of vandalism and trespass on his land.

He has also demanded that there be a stay of the licence until the appeal is heard, probably in the summer.

Chief Justice the Hon. Sir James Astwood overturned an earlier refusal of the licence, a decision which had been made by the Liquor Licence Authority.

Mr. Curtis said: "I disagree fundamentally with decision of the Chief Justice.

"As a result of attacks by vandals and trespassing on my property by local drunks I am going to follow this thing right through to the end.'' Mr. Curtis believes that an attack on the Perfumery, on the night the approval was granted, was made as a victory celebration by people who relied on the grocery for their alcohol.

The nearby Duck's Puddle Association, made up of local residents, are backing the scheme.

President Mr. Michael Beckles said: "We've not gone ahead with the appeal ourselves but we support it.'' UBP CONDUCTS TELEPHONE POLL PTL UBP conducts telephone poll The United Bermuda Party is polling voters in the run-up to a national election.

Mr. Joe Gibbons, executive officer of the United Bermuda Party, confirmed that telephone polling by the New York firm Penn & Schoen is under way.

"They're just standard polls to gauge voter attitudes on some of the key issues that have been identified in the past,'' Mr. Gibbons told The Royal Gazette this week.

The UBP regularly conducts national polls as well as polls for particular constituencies, and "this tends to be a constituency-type poll'', he said.

As well as testing attitudes on issues like drugs, crime, the economy, and education, questions on some parochial issues will be asked in certain constituencies, he said. Voters' attitudes toward particular candidates will also be tested, he said.

The general election is likely to be decided in the marginal constituencies of St. George's North, Hamilton West, Warwick East, Pembroke West Central, and Hamilton East.

"Certainly, we'd be polling people in all five of those, and others as well,'' Mr. Gibbons said. "We will be polling marginal areas, but we're not necessarily focusing in on them.'' The date for the election has not been set. Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan must hand down the writ no later than February 8.

FINE FOR MAN POSSESSING HEROIN CTS Fine for man possessing heroin A man who claimed he found heroin lying on the street now hopes to find $500 to pay the resulting fine.

Twilton Wayne Smith, 34, of Camp Road in Southampton, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin in Magistrates' Court yesterday after the Crown agreed not to proceed with a charge of possession of heroin intended for supply.

Sgt. Ken James, the Police prosecutor, said Police spotted Smith among a group of people on Elliott Street in Pembroke last July 4.

Smith spotted the officers and "began to saunter off, placing an object in his mouth'', Sgt. James said.

Officers stopped the man, who was single and unemployed, and told him to spit out what he placed in his mouth, court was told. "He complied,'' Sgt. James said.

What was inside Smith's mouth was not revealed in court, but a search of his breast pocket turned up a brown paper twist, found to contain nine small packets which contained a total of 0.8 grams of heroin.

The estimated street value of the drugs was $225.

Smith told Police he found the drugs on the street "and would probably try to sell them'', Sgt. James said.

In admitting possession, Smith maintained he found the drugs, but denied telling Police he planned to sell them.

Noting that drug possession was a serious offence, acting Magistrate the Wor.

Charles-Etta Simmons fined Smith $500. She gave him only until Friday to pay or spend 50 days in prison.

"I'm taking into consideration what you say are the circumstances surrounding it,'' Miss Simmons told the man. "You should be more careful about what you pick up in the future.'' "That's right,'' Smith said. "Unless it's $500.'' POLICE `RESCUE' LOST VISITOR POL Police `Rescue' lost visitor Police officers had a break from their usual duties this week when they were called to the rescue of a lost visitor.

A woman who had just arrived from North Carolina had rented a livery cycle and gone for a ride with her son. After a while, she asked her son to ride back to their hotel because she wanted to walk.

But after walking for a considerable time, she realised she was lost and knocked on the door of a home on Stovell Lane in Paget to ask for directions.

However, she could not remember the name of her hotel. And to make matters worse, the occupant was a visitor to the Island herself.

Mrs. Joan Leonard of Ireland decided the best thing to do would be to call the Police.

After officers made inquiries with Immigration officers at the airport, they learned the lost visitor was staying at Astwood Cove Apartments on South Shore in Warwick.

They drove her back and she was reunited with her son, who was by that time frantic with worry, a Police spokesman said.

PAGET HALL REMAINS UNSOLD RE Paget hall remains unsold One of Bermuda's largest properties remains unsold after more than a year of being advertised in local and overseas publications.

Darling and Dapena, agents for "Paget Hall'', believe this is due to a recession-brought-on slump in the overseas market for local property.

Owner Mr. Ed Acker, an airline consultant and former chairman of the now-defunct Pan American World Airways, is asking $7 million for the property.

Agent Ms Chris Dapena said it was expected a non-Bermudian would buy the property.

However, a Bermudian party could be interested in the 2.7-acre property, built in the 1920s, as a small hotel, she said.

"It would be a marvellous property for a hotel,'' Ms Dapena said.

SICK PASSENGER RETURNS HOME HOS Sick passenger returns home A New York man was flown home this week after he fell ill aboard the Statendam and was evacuated to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Mr. Frank Peterson, 64, of Lindenhurst, New York, who was accompanied by his wife Nancy, was flown to New York by air ambulance at 9.15 a.m. on Monday.

The man fell critically ill with an abdominal aneurysm on Sunday when the new Holland America Line ship was returning to New York City from Antigua.

At the time, the ship was 210 miles southwest of Bermuda, the nearest port. Ms Sylvie Craig-Swainson, executive secretary to the president of Statendam agents Harnett & Richardson Ltd., met the cruise ship at the St. George's pilot station at about 11.15 p.m.

While very ill, Mr. Peterson "was in very good spirits'', she said. "Even when he was lowered into the pilot boat, he managed a smile.'' He was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and stabilised overnight before taking off in the air ambulance.