· Latest situation

Effectively, the developers could move in on the site at any moment. They are waiting for news of whether their bids for public funding are successful. If they are successful - they will start building the flats and, it is widely believed, will destroy a number of tunnels which lie under the site and they will begin work on renovating the first few yards of the two big tunnel entrances. If the bids are not successful - they will build the flats 'without regard to any of the tunnels' and not even the two entrances will be saved.

· Archaeological survey

Finally, we were allowed to see the archaeological survey which the developers were obliged to carry out in response to public objections to their plans. It appears to be lacking in essential detail. The accompanying report itself states that an accurate picture of the tunnels' extent would require another survey and, astonishingly, admits that the surveyors did not actually go into the tunnels during their study. As a result there are questions being raised as to whether this study should be used as grounds for saying that the development will not cause any damage to the tunnels.