Car park hole a mystery

Resurfacing work has been taking place behind the hall to replace the gravel with Tarmac. It started in mid-March and was completed last week.

Dean of St Martin's douzaine Ben Gregg said they had no idea the tunnel was there until work started.

'It was quite a surprise,' he said. 'It's right beside the building. It's very strange. No one seems to know what it is.'

The entrance to the tunnel was previously covered with a cement lid, which was hidden under the gravel. It is directly next to the western wall of the hall.

When workers opened it up, they found a two-metre drop. At the bottom is a tunnel, about half a metre high, lined with red brick. It stretches towards the parish toilets on Rue Maze.

Senior constable Lindsey Nicol-Gent said the car park workers had a look. While there seemed to be a partial collapse a little way along, the straight tunnel appeared to go on quite a way.

There was nothing in the tunnel, such as pipes, to indicate what it might have been for. The eastern end of the tunnel abuts the wall of the hall.