Royal Esso gas station to avoid problems which led to its temporary closure earlier this year.

The new company, to be called Port Royal Service Centre Ltd., will be partly owned by Mr. Maurice Terceira, who owns the site on Middle Road, Southampton.

Other shareholders are likely to include another member of Mr. Terceira's family and Mr. Raymond Tannock, the owner/operator of the Crawl Hill Esso Service Station, in Hamilton Parish.

Port Royal gas station reopened last month with Mr. Tannock, who will continue to own and run the Crawl Hill business, as manager.

The station had closed down in mid-August when its then owner/operator, Mr.

Harold Madeiros, ran into financial trouble.

Mr. Madeiros was subsequently ordered by Supreme Court to pay $26,518 to Esso Bermuda, which supplied him with fuel.

Mr. Terceira said yesterday he was buying a stake in the business side of Port Royal gas station as a safety measure.

"I'm just trying to protect the business from what happened the last time, when I had no control over the business,'' he said.

"By owning part of the business, I can take part in meetings and take an active part in ensuring the business is being run well.'' He stressed that Mr. Tannock would be in charge of all aspects of the day-to-day running of the gas station.

Mr. Tannock said electrical wiring at Port Royal was being upgraded following new guidelines introduced following an explosion at Riddell's Bay gas station several months ago.

Once that was finished, there were plans to reopen the auto garage for vehicle repairs, he added.