according to The Times newspaper in London.

"More important, Bermuda has taken to Waddington,'' the paper's political gossip column reported yesterday.

The story said that the former cabinet minister had established a formidable reputation on the Island as an after-dinner speaker, and quoted admiring comments about former British prime minister Lady Thatcher he made last week to a Bermuda Insurance Institute lunch.

The column continued: "Should Lady Thatcher, renowned for her dislike of holidays, decide to visit the island she would be welcomed with open arms, such is the public relations work done by Waddington.'' MOTORIST STOLE LICENCE STICKER CTS Motorist stole licence sticker A St. George's man who stole a licence sticker to hide the fact that his car was not registered, was ordered to pay a $200 fine in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Dennis Raymond Smith of Mullet Bay Road admitted removing the sticker from a car parked in The Royal Gazette Limited parking lot on Par-La-Ville Road in Hamilton on November 13.

Smith was stopped two days later as he drove along Kindley Field Road in St.

George's after he was spotted by a Police officer who knew the car was not registered.

When asked where he got the June, 1993 sticker from, the 47-year-old told the officer he had stolen it.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis told Smith: "You could be charged with more serious offences considering the inconvenience caused to the person you took the sticker from.'' OBSTRUCTED POLICE CTS Obstructed police A Pembroke man who said he interfered with a Police arrest because they were taking away his friend "for no reason'' was fined $200 yesterday for obstruction.

Sgt. Earl Kirby, prosecuting, said Police were called to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on Tuesday evening to deal with a person who was said to be "acting in an offensive manner''. When the attending officers attempted to arrest the man in question, Anthony Wayne Johnson of Edgeway Lane intervened, and "encouraged the suspect to resist arrest''.

After several warnings, Johnson was himself arrested.

The 39-year-old told Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis he and the man were friends, and that they had gone to the hospital together.

"I couldn't understand why (the officers) were doing that,'' said Johnson.

HOUSE OF CRACK CTS House of crack A Pembroke man who pleaded guilty to possessing drug equipment and allowing crack cocaine to be smoked in his apartment was fined $800 in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The court heard that narcotics officers armed with a search warrant visited the residence of George Winslow Parris on September 18, after receiving information from a member of the public.

Inside the King Street apartment, officers found equipment fitted for the production and use of illicit drugs. Later analysis of the items showed traces of cocaine.

The 50-year-old admitted to Police that he let a number of women use his apartment to smoke crack cocaine from April 18 until the day of his arrest.

CLEAN BOWLED CRM Clean bowled Police are investigating two break-ins in the east end of the Island. A break-in at the St. David's County Cricket Club was discovered yesterday morning, Police said.

Burglars ransacked the premises and caused considerable damage. They also stole several bottles of liquor and an unknown amount of cash.

On Tuesday, a home on Valley View Lane in Smith's was entered, Police said. A bottle of whisky, costume jewellery, a child's wallet, and loose change were stolen.