Outgoing Deputy Governor Peter Willis is to quit the Island early due to suspected heart trouble.

And Mr. Willis -- due to have left the Island early next week -- is expected to be flown to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore today for further tests.

The Deputy Governor, who is set to retire from the Foreign Office, took ill in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

He was rushed to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for treatment, where yesterday his condition was described as "stable.'' Premier Pamela Gordon, who had planned a dinner for Mr. Willis tomorrow, said: "Our prayers go with him and we pray that all this is is God telling him he needs a rest for a little while.

"He has fitted so well into this community that I'm sure the entire Island will join me in wishing him a speedy recovery.'' Mr. Willis, Deputy Governor for four years, was to have been honoured with a reception at Governor Thorold Masefield's temporary home at Dockyard next Monday.

But the reception -- and all other social engagements -- have now been cancelled. Mr. Willis' wife Meg will be accompanying him to the US, where he will see a cardiac specialist. The couple will not be returning to Bermuda and are expected to travel on from the US to England.

Acting Deputy Governor Paul Dryden said: "Mr. and Mrs. Willis were on the point of leaving Bermuda at the end of his appointment as Deputy Governor, but in the circumstances, all farewell calls and hospitality have been cancelled.'' Mr. Willis, 54, started work as the number two figure in the UK power structure in Bermuda in April, 1994, succeeding John Kelly, who later became Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Mr. Willis, a 30-plus year Foreign Office veteran, came to Bermuda from a four-year stint in the Foreign Office news department on the Middle East desk.

Mr. Willis spent most of his career -- from 1965 to 1985 -- in the Middle East, including Libya, Jordan and Casablanca, Morocco, where he served as Commercial Consul. He later worked for the British delegation to the United Nations in New York, dealing with economic issues, before taking up the news department job.

Mr. Willis will be succeeded in Bermuda by Tim Gurney, 40, a career Foreign Office man, who is expected to take up his new duties early this month.

Peter Willis HEALTH HTH