THE multi-million pound legal battle involving Harcourt Developments and major property developments in Jersey has been suddenly settled out of court.

It is believed that Harcourt — the preferred developers of the £350 million Esplanade Quarter project — have agreed to pay three Irish businessmen an eight-figure sum. The settlement leaves the way open for Harcourt to continue with the large-scale development.

However, the court case prompted many to raise serious concerns about the way the contracts had been handled. Last week Treasury Minister Terry Le Sueur said that he was reviewing the whole development deal to make sure that Harcourt were the right developers to take on the project. It will be the States who make the final decision to give Harcourt the go-ahead or not.

The case at Dublin’s High Court began five weeks ago and was due to run for another three weeks. The JEP has learned that an agreement was reached yesterday before the company’s chairman Pat Doherty had a chance to go into the witness box.

• Picture: Picture: A model of the proposed Esplanade Quarter