A row between the owners of Segway Tours Bermuda looks set to end up in court — after one sacked the other for allegedly "serious reasons".

Majority shareholder and president Ben Fairn told The Royal Gazette he got rid of Robert Territo — who ran the tours around Dockyard and St. George's and owns about ten percent of the business — in November.

Mr. Fairn said: "He was terminated from Segway for cause in November. He was terminated for cause for serious reasons.

"He is still a shareholder; he owns about ten percent. I'll obviously buy him out if he wants to sell his share."

Father-of-two Mr. Territo, 43, who launched the business after coming here from Manhattan in 2004, has now left the Island as he is without a work permit.

His wife Myra told this newspaper: "I have spoken to Robert's attorney and, as the matter is likely to come before the courts shortly, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time."

Mr. Fairn owns more than 50 percent of Tours Bermuda Ltd., which trades as Segway Tours Bermuda. He said Police Chief Inspector Anthony Mouchette was the third partner, with about 30 percent of the shares. Mr. Mouchette did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Fairn, who also runs Aardvark Communications, would not disclose why he fired Mr. Territo, whom he described last April as a "great promoter and probably the best tour guide in Bermuda and the Caribbean".

"I can't comment on any of that at this point. That's private employer to employee information. All I know is that as an employer I terminated him for good reason."

He said he helped Mr. Territo set up the business when the latter first came here from the US and then decided to invest heavily himself a couple of years ago.

He said Mr. Territo replaced Mr. Mouchette on the company's board of directors about a year ago. The Segway board now consists of Mr. Fairn and Chris Trott.

Mr. Fairn is advertising for a new operations manager to run the tours, conducted on electric two-wheeled personal transporters, and "drive growth in the business". Applicants have until January 28 to apply.

Mr. Fairn said: "I'm just hiring to replace him. I'm looking for a new operations manager for Dockyard and St. George's. I've had a lot of good applications because there is a sore tourism industry and lots of people out there looking for work."

He said the tours were not operating at all this winter as there were so few tourists. But he expects to be "back in full swing" from March 1 until the end of November.

This newspaper revealed in April that New York bartender Eugene Masat won a civil claim for almost $500,000 against Mr. Territo for matters including breach of contract and fraud in 2006.

Mr. Territo insisted the case against him was false and that the judgment only went against him because he was unable to appear in court in the States due to his commitments here. He claimed Mr. Masat was a disgruntled former employee of his who "stalked" him and his wife for cash after being sacked.

Mr. Territo hit the headlines again in July after he jumped off Heritage Wharf Bridge in Dockyard to try to save a fully-clothed man in the water. The man turned out to already be dead and Mr. Territo and a cruise ship passenger brought his body back to shore.