Friday as a legal row over its control took another twist.

At the end of a two-day hearing, Appeals Court judges ruled unanimously that the $2 million paid a year by Bermuda CableVision (BCL) to its US owner should either stop or be paid into a high interest account.

On Friday, lawyers for BCL and its owners the McDonald Group were examining the ruling and said it was too early to comment on its implications.

It was suggested during the hearing that the McDonald Group could pull out of BCL if the decision went against them.

Narinder Hargun, the group's Bermuda attorney, said: "It means that until the decision is reversed they cannot pay the consulting fees. The McDonald Group will have to consider its position.'' BCL's Bermuda attorney Alan Dunch added: "The company has no idea at all as to how this judgment may impact on its future operations. That is a matter to be determined by the McDonald Group.'' The Court of Appeal's decision came at the end of the second day of an appeal by major BCL shareholder Colica Trust Company, a nominee company of the Bermuda Telephone Company.

Colica was appealing a decision by the Chief Justice Austin Ward not to grant an injunction halting the consultancy payments from BCL to Atlantic Communications Ltd. (ACL).

ACL is owned by the US-based McDonald Group which runs BCL, although Colica is challenging the ownership and structure of the company.

Colica's attorney Philip Hoser said that it was obvious the Appeal Court had found no difficulty in granting the injunction.

"We think it is a splendid result. At the end of the day Bermudian shareholders will have this money available for the benefit of the company.'' He added: "The risk of the McDonalds pulling out and the damage being done to the company was exaggerated. We have always said there was no such risk and that it was a bluff.'' The payments have been made for several years and were part of a package agreed to when the McDonald Group invested in BCL in 1987.

Colica claims the payments and BCL's structure breach Bermuda's 60/40 company ownership rule and is challenging the control of the company.

Under the Companies Act, firms doing business in Bermuda must be at least 60 percent Bermudian-owned.

The battle is to go before the Privy Council, in England, which will decide in July whether Colica's claim is valid -- and if it should go to trial.

If it goes to trial, the consultancy payments will remain frozen until the case is heard.

However, if the Privy Council decides Colica does not have a case, the payments will be immediately released and the issue of control will end.

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