£10m of the waterfront has been given to Les Pas

Les Pas Holdings had been claiming ownership of a large area of reclaimed land in St Helier for several years and was preparing to take its case to court.

In September, the company and the States of Jersey reached an out-of-court settlement over the disputed ownership of the waterfront when the States voted to give £10m of land on the Waterfront to Les Pas.

The agreement was reached after four days of closed debate in the States which were held in secret for legal reasons.

Information access

States members were given a confidential briefing on the background to the case by the Solicitor General, Stephanie Nicolle.

The land deal was passed by the island's Royal Court two weeks ago.

After voting to settle with Les Pas, the States were told by Senator Frank Walker, the President of the Policy and Resources Committee, a public inquiry into the case would be established, headed by someone independent of the island.

The inquiry chief would have full access to all the information relating to the case, he said.

BBC Radio Jersey was allowed to broadcast the entire Les Pas debate last week.