to continue selling liquor, but attached stricter conditions to its licence.

The Authority also granted the Tucker's Town beach club's application for an extension of operating hours.

It ruled the beach club could stay open until 9 p.m. on Thursday nights only.

Last summer its hours were 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. everyday.

Conditions attached to the Authority's rulings included: Last call for alcohol is 8.30 p.m.; no amplified music is allowed during hours of operation, with no music at all after closing; only hotel guests and members of the health club, Mid Ocean Club and Castle Harbour Golf Club can be served; and before they can be served, they must present membership identification or their room key.

There was a further condition that the beach club barrier be closed after hours.

Authority chairman the Wor. Will Francis handed down the rulings in Magistrates' Court after hearing a lengthy round of arguments from lawyers for Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort and two objectors.

The bickering took place despite Marriott lawyer Mr. Jai Pachai saying an out-of-court agreement had been reached between the hotel and the objectors.

Mr. Francis noted the controversial case had been coming before him every year for the last seven years.

The two objectors, Mid Ocean Club management and a group of Tucker's Town residents are against the beach club because of the traffic and noise they feel it brings to the exclusive neighbourhood.

Tucker's Town residents' lawyer Mr. Justin Williams told the Authority narrow roads ran through the neighbourhood and it was poorly lit. Many residents, "who had paid millions for their properties'', went for walks at night and an increase in traffic flow would present a danger to them, he said.

Mr. Pachai said the hotel and the objectors had managed to reach an agreement on the application for an extension of opening hours. However, there was one point of contention, which was between the hotel and Mid Ocean Club.

Mid Ocean Club lawyer Mr. Mark Diel said his client wanted one more condition attached to the licence: Access to the beach club to be restricted to guests actually staying at Marriott.

But Mr. Pachai said he was unable to agree to that condition because the hotel had contracts with members of its health club and golf club allowing them to use the beach club.

Mr. Diel argued an agreement between Marriott property owner Bermuda Properties Ltd. and the Mid Ocean Club allowed only registered guests of the hotel to use the right of way leading to the beach club.

However, Mr. Pachai said Marriott had a different understanding of the wording of the agreement and did not think it was so narrow as to mean only registered guests of the hotel had access.

Hotel "guests'' could be anyone invited onto Marriott property, he submitted.

But before the lawyers could take the argument any further, the Authority ruled it was being dragged into issues that were not for it to decide. The two lawyers should take the dispute to Supreme Court, Mr. Francis said.

Before the Authority handed down its decision, Mr. Williams pointed out it had been previously understood that only hotel guests and members of the two nearby private clubs were to be served at the beach club.

However, he and Mr. Diel now wanted the understanding written into the terms of the beach club's liquor licence because it believed Marriott was not taking it seriously enough.

That way, he said, they could bring up any breaches the next time the licence came up for renewal.