The two Bermudian families who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks have welcomed plans for a memorial garden in New York in their honour.

The relatives of both Boyd Gatton and Rhondelle Tankard, who perished with thousands of others at the World Trade Center more than two years ago, said the British Memorial Garden planned for Hanover Square would be somewhere quiet they could visit.

The British community in New York has joined forces with New York authorities and local organisations to establish the garden in the heart of Lower Manhattan.

Although there is a memorial garden in England for the British victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including those from British territories, both the Tankard and Gatton families said they would appreciate having something closer to Bermuda.

The memorial garden, which is scheduled to open next summer, will be landscaped and include all the names of the British victims, including Boyd and Rhondelle.

However, neither of the families on the Island have officially been told about the plans yet by the British Consulate in New York.

Boyd's sister Pauline O'Connor said: "People from England have been letting me know about the memorial garden in England, but I didn't know anything about the one in New York.

"That's a really nice idea, especially for those families that are able to get to New York, or those that live near to it, like us.

"It will certainly be somewhere I would go and it will be easier for me to get to New York than England. It's something else to make sure that Boyd and Rhondelle are remembered."

Ms O'Connor said she had not yet visited the memorial wall, set up near the World Trade Center depicting the names of all of the 9/11 victims, but she said she planned to go later this year.

And Cheryl Burrows, mother of Rhondelle, said she visited New York often because it was where she felt closest to her daughter, and would definitely like the opportunity to reflect in the memorial garden.

"Having a garden in New York for Rhondelle and British victims would be a blessing," said Mrs. Burrows.

"I would like to go and just sit there. I go to New York whenever I get the opportunity and time and I tend to go to the family room, where we have poems and pictures pertaining to Rhondelle. There are always people there in the same situation as ourselves and it is nice to talk to them.

"But it will be really nice to have a garden pertaining to her, too."

Mrs. Burrows said, unlike Boyd's family, she did not receive any remains or belongings of Rhondelle throughout the massive recovery operation at the World Trade Center, which made closure very difficult.

But she added: "That's why I like to go to New York so much - it's where I get my peace of mind because it's where she was when she died and she was happy there."

The garden will be established close to Ground Zero and in an area of the city with significant historical associations with the UK.

It will offer a place for the British community to hold annual Remembrance Day observations, as well as act as a gift to the people of New York.

Its creation is intended to demonstrate the continuing commitment of the British community to the city of New York, and to the revitalisation of Downtown Manhattan.

The garden, which is to be designed by landscape architects Julian and Isabel Bannerman, who have done much work for the British Royal Family, is to reflect all the best elements of UK gardens and landscape design, with the possible integration of a water feature, planters, benches and native plants and flowers.

However, there is also to be sufficient room for large gatherings on various occasions, such as Remembrance Day, and it has also been proposed that a monument be erected.

The British Memorial Garden New York Trust has been created to oversee the planning. funding and development of the garden, and the on-going administration of the trust will be overseen by the St. George's Society in New York and the Consulate General.

Boyd, 38, had moved from Bermuda to New Jersey about ten years before he died and was working on the 97th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers for Fiduciary Trust when the hijacked planes struck.

But Rhondelle, 31, had only been in New York for two days when she died having been seconded to the World Trade Center office for two months by her employer Aon (Bermuda). She had been looking forward to the opportunity of a lifetime to work in Manhattan for a short while when disaster struck.

For more information about the memorial garden, visit the website at www.britishmemorialgarden.org.