Brannon plans to present a petition to Government in a bid to change "completely ridiculous'' noise legislation.

Mr. Brannon said he has compiled some 1,500 to 2,000 signatures, letters and e-mails supporting his effort to have the Island's noise laws changed -- particularly for tourist entertainment venues.

The petition calls for an amendment to the Summary Offences Act to allow outlets offering entertainment to "operate freely from noon till 11 p.m.''.

Currently any two people can complain, 24 hours a day, if noise emanates more than 100 feet from the source, he explained.

"It's completely ridiculous,'' he said. "You can hear cars from 100 feet, boats from 100 feet. You can hear the wind from 100 feet.'' The petition is well supported by a "good cross-section of the community'' and by tourists as well, he added. Mr. Brannon has been using the Internet to keep tourists informed of what's going on and says he will to continue to do so until Government changes the law.

"They don't want that to happen. They don't want the rest of the world to know that there's no entertainment for tourists,'' he said.

Mr. Brannon said he felt passionately about the issue because 15 years ago he sat on the Committee on Competitiveness which addressed a decline in tourism.

"Fifteen years later, we've lost an additional 200,000 tourists and continue to fall further and further,'' he said.

Despite that, he said that up until ten days ago, the website for the Department of Tourism listed as available entertainment: comedian Jimmy Keys, the Club, Club 21 at Dockyard and the Gazebo at Hamilton Princess.

But Mr. Keys has left the Island when the Surf Club failed. The Club is now L'Oriental restaurant and Club 21 and Gazebo have been closed for some time.

"It's totally unacceptable,'' he said.

Regardless of what happens with the petition however, Mr. Brannon said Bermuda Island Cruises will be operating its `Don't Stop the Carnival' parties at Hawkin's Island this summer.

"We got loads of bookings already,'' he said.

And he said that he been informed by the Police Service, the entertainment venue at Hawkin's Island would be getting a noise permit.

"But that's not going to stop the problem,'' he said. "It will only mean that if a neighbour calls the Police, officers will come out in a boat and decide whether the noise is too loud. If officers decide it is, they can shut us down,'' he said.