Civil servant chiefs have signed a letter in support of their head, Kenneth Dill, who is fighting the Premier's attempts to fire him.

It is understood the crisis was discussed at a meeting of the Civil Service Executive on Monday after Major Dill, Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque and Assistant Cabinet Secretary Judith Hall-Bean left the meeting.

A letter to Premier Ewart Brown expressing support for Maj. Dill was then signed by all of the permanent secretaries present the top bureaucrats in each ministry.

One Civil Service source said:"It was absolutely unanimous, absolutely none of them were reluctant.

"The bottom line was that if this sort of thing is allowed to stand, then the majority of the Civil Service can be summarily fired."

It is thought that one permanent secretary was not present but the letter was signed by his stand-in.

The source added: "They thought it would completely undermine any semblance of a separation of the Civil Service from the politicians if the Dill sacking is upheld. That was the essence."

Maj. Dill had been asked by Dr. Brown to retire last Thursday but refused, in what the Opposition claims is a clear case of ministerial bullying.

And The Royal Gazette understands a number of senior civil servants have been threatened with the sack in recent months.

One source said some Ministers were routinely flouting protocol by directly ordering civil servants down the chain, rather than giving instructions to permanent secretaries to carry out. Last night the Bermuda Public Services Union (BPSU)would not comment on the letter supporting Maj. Dill.

But it issued a statement which said it would be premature for the union to comment on the matter until all the facts are laid before Maj. Dill to respond to.

The statement added:"The Union respects the wishes of the head of the Civil Service to allow his representative to continue to advocate on his behalf."

Recently the Supreme Court found that civil servant LeYoni Junos was unlawfully sacked as administrator of the African Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) Foundation on April 10 last year.

However the judge did not agree with her claim that she was the victim of political interference by Dr. Brown, who is also the Minister of Tourism.

Ms Junos had raised concerns about false claims made by a US company Henderson Associates Inc. contracted as event planner for ADHT.

In April last year the BPSUsaid it was getting increasing complaints from civil servants about political interference and bullying.

And in January this year the union also hit out over the treatment of the Premier's secretary who came back from holiday to find she had been replaced.

The secretary was abruptly sent home on paid leave after working in the job for the best part of a decade.