RARE wall lizards may have been trapped by repointing work at L’Etacquerel Fort.

The work has now stopped, although renovation on the fort is continuing in other areas where the lizards are not thought to live.

States ecologist Mike Freeman said there had been a problem, but that it had been sorted out.

He said no more repointing work would be done until the lizards stop hibernating in the spring, and that holes were being drilled where the repointing work had been carried out to make sure they could breathe and get out of the walls.

Mr Freeman said: ‘Some lizards might have been walled in.

But at the moment, we are happy that the action being taken is going to make it all right, but we are keeping a very close eye on it.’ He said the lizards – which got their name because they live within cracks in old walls – were quite rare but had been seen at Mont Orgueil, Fort Leicester, Gorey Village and even at First Tower.

Jersey Heritage Trust director Jonathan Carter, who have been carrying out the work with the Transport Department backed by the Tourism Development Fund, said they had consulted the Environment Department all through the project and followed all the advice they had been given at every stage.

The renovation work is being done so Islanders can use L’Etacquerel Fort for barbecues and parties.

It was built in 1836 as part of the Island’s coastal defence network, but there were fortifications on the site before that date.