PEOPLE living in Bermuda need to fly away regularly to avoid getting bored, a reporter told a global audience of millions of the BBC World Service this week.

Patrick Middleton, an English reporter based in Nice in southern France, made his comments to Newshour host Judy Swallow during Wednesday morning's programme.

He was being interviewed about the case of former tennis star Boris Becker, who used to reside in the principality of Monaco to keep down his tax bill.

Three-times Wimbledon champion Becker appeared in court this week in Germany, where he was facing charges of tax evasion. Yesterday, he was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined around $300,000.

During the course of the interview, Ms Swallow asked why Monaco was the tax haven of choice for so many of the rich and why not Bermuda, for example?

His reply implied that Monaco was boring and he seemed to imply that Bermuda life could be dull as well.

When contacted, Mr. Middleton said he had never intended to make out that Bermuda was an uninteresting place to live.

"No way did I say Bermuda was boring," said Mr. Middleton from his home in France.

"In fact, I said Bermuda was a very nice and attractive place, but people who live there have told me that they feel the need to get away to somewhere like New York now and again.

"In fact, I went to Bermuda not long ago and stayed at Elbow Beach. I had a great time down there."

He went on to describe Monaco - just up the coast from where he lives - as being boring.

"There are lots of people living there just for tax reasons and the place is incredibly boring," said Mr. Middleton.

"There's nothing to do. You see people there walking their dogs and looking really downcast. In fact, the whole of the South of France is boring.

"Bermuda, on the other hand, is an attractive place where you can go out and walk and enjoy the environment. I'm very pro-Bermuda."