cars, even when the doors are locked.

On Saturday night thieves smashed the passenger window in a car parked on North Shore Road near the Pembroke Community Centre and stole a handbag containing a purse, Police said.

A woman parked the car about 6 p.m. and returned an hour later to find the window smashed and the handbag missing, a spokesman said.

There was no cash inside the purse, but there were credit cards and personal items.

Valuables should not be left in cars, Police said. If they must be left, they should be locked in the boot.

ANNUAL DANCE RECITAL SET FOR CITY HALL THR Annual dance recital set for city hall City Hall will be rocking to the rhythm of hundreds of dancing feet this week when the Somerset School of Dancing presents its seventh dance recital.

A total of 325 students will be taking part in the four-night show, which opens on Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m.

The school will present a classical version of Peter Pan which director Sal Hodgson and teacher Karen Festog have choreographed for the students.

A varied programme of jazz, tap, modern and contemporary pieces will follow in the second half.

There will be a separate matinee performance given by the pre-primary students on Saturday May 8 beginning at 10.30 a.m.

Tickets at $15 ($12 for children for the Wednesday and Thursday performances) are available from the City Hall box office.

LANGUAGE PROBLEM IN MAGISTRATES' COURT CTS Language problem in magistrates' court Magistrates' Court officials faced a language barrier when dealing with a Spanish visitor last week.

Juan Gonsalvez-Momparler, 30, was being charged with driving with excess alcohol in the court.

Gonsalvez-Momparler speaks Spanish and German, but very little English. He is in the Island to see his Bermudian fiancee who he is to marry in July.

Despite efforts to find a lawyer who speaks Spanish, the case had to be adjourned.

THREE SOMERSET MEN FINED FOR LOITERING CTS Three Somerset men fined for loitering Police arrested three men after complaints about youths causing problems near a Sandys' church.

Officers were called to the Royal Navy Field, off Somerset Road, following reports of trespassing and loitering there, and at St. Joseph's Church and in nearby houses, on April 21.

Prosecuting Sgt. Kenrick James said that they moved a number of the youths on but returned to find even more there later on.

Sgt. James pointed out that there were signs forbidding littering and loitering.

Alfred Daniel Basden, 28, of Long Bay Lane, Sandys, was arrested while sitting on the church wall.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis said: "St. Joseph's Church is getting sick and tired of people loitering on its property.'' Craig Brangman, 31, of Somerset Road, Sandys, and Kenneth Basden, 28, of Kitchener Close, Sandys, were arrested on the verandah of a nearby house.

All three men apologised to the court and were fined $150 each.

DRUNK DRIVER NARROWLY MISSED CARS CTS Drunk driver narrowly missed cars Sales manager Michael David Howard picked a bad place to ride a bike drunk.

After watching him narrowly miss parked cars outside Hamilton Police station, officers hauled him in.

He was found to have 200 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood -- well over twice the legal limit, Magistrates' Court heard.

Howard, 32, of Olive Bank condominiums, Warwick, admitted the March 31 offence. He said he was parking the bike when he was caught. It had been on Front Street, "where bikes get stolen and damaged'', he said.

He was fined $450 and taken off the road for a year.

FINE FOR MAN WHO USED OFFENSIVE WORDS CTS Fine for man who used offensive words Using offensive words at Hamilton bus depot cost David Anthony Sousa, 39, a $200 fine in Magistrates' Court last week.

Sousa, a self-employed painter of Huntley Lane, Smith's, admitted the April 28 offence, but said he had been sworn at first, by a man who continually asked him for cash and cigarettes.

DISQUALIFIED FROM DRIVING UNTIL 1997 CTS Disqualified from driving until 1997 When a Policeman grabbed him by the shirt, Jamal Tito Smith managed to wriggle out of the situation. He slipped out of the shirt and left it hanging in the officer's hand while he ran off.

Smith, 17, was spotted riding a bike along St. John's Road, Hamilton on Wednesday by a motorcycle officer who knew he was off the road until January, 1996 following a dangerous riding conviction.

The officer grabbed him but Smith, of West Park Lane, Smith's escaped. He was eventually caught again after running into a yard.

At Magistrates' Court last week Smith admitted driving while disqualified and escaping custody. He was fined $450 and banned from the road until July, 1997.

ENGLISH POLICEMAN RECEIVES PROMOTION POL English policeman receives promotion Commissioner of Police Mr. Lennett (Lennie) Edwards has announced the promotion to detective sergeant of Mike Chlebek.

Englishman Det. Sgt. Chlebek, 36, will remain in CID, where he has worked for more than three years.

He joined the Bermuda Police Force in 1978, serving in St. George's uniform branch, traffic and on motor cycle patrol.

He is married with two children and lives in Warwick.

NEW RULES FOR RIDING HORSES ON BEACHES GVT New rules for riding horses on beaches Rules regarding horses on public beaches changed on Saturday, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Parks Department said.

Horses will not be allowed on Horseshoe Bay, John Smith's Bay, Elbow Beach and Shelly Bay between May 1 and October 31.

They may be ridden on all other public beaches, but only below high water mark and between the hours of 5 a.m. and 8 a.m.

TOURISM EXPERTS ARRIVING FOR FORUM CON Tourism experts arriving for forum World tourism experts will converge on Bermuda this month to discuss how to boost island vacation business.

They will be gathering for the second annual Island Tourism International Forum at Bermuda College, which will examine how to improve the competitiveness of island destinations and the way they are marketed in the US.

The experts attend the forum from May 16 to 19, at the college's Stonington campus.

They will stay at the Island's top hotels and go on sightseeing tours.

Speakers include tourism officials from the US, Gibraltar, Antigua, Malta, Easter Island and Canada.

Forum co-ordinator Ms Patricia Trott said local people wishing to take part could contact her.

VISITOR ARRIVALS JUMP 6.3 PERCENT TOU Visitor arrivals jump 6.3 percent Visitor arrivals have jumped 6.3 percent in the first 15 weeks of the year, Government figures show.

Some 89,413 people arrived here between January 1 and April 25. This compares with 84,122 for the same period in 1992.

Tourists flying here rose by 8.6 percent to 82,737, while those coming by ship and air dropped from 64 to 26.

The number of cruise ship passengers has gone down from 7,842 to 6,612 -- a 15.7 percent drop.

For the week of April 19 to 25, arrivals increased 30.3 percent to total 15,607.