Island Energy says it identified the source of the gas leak in St Clement early this morning (15 December).

The company confirmed engineers were working ‘through the night’ and are now ‘fixing the leak’, which caused around 50 homes in the Le Squez area to be evacuated last night. 

Residents from Le Clos Mourant were taken to a nearby social club and then to hotels while the search for the leak began. 

Island Energy said this was merely a 'precaution'. Jersey Fire and Rescue stated this was 'standard practice' and reassured residents nobody else needed to leave their houses on the Andium Homes estate.

It has been confirmed that those affected by the late-night evacuation can now return home, while engineering teams remain on site to monitor gas levels over the next few days.

Jersey Fire and Rescue officers have now been stood down from the scene.

The smell of gas was first reported yesterday afternoon. The Government of Jersey confirmed at around 10pm that a pocket of gas was discovered in a service duct.

Island Energy have not confirmed where the leak was found this morning, but Andium has reassured residents that the Le Clos Mourant buildings do not have mains gas going into them and that their homes have been checked.

The energy company has apologised for the disruption caused to residents forced to evacuate:

"We would like to thank the residents of the area for their understanding and apologise for the distress and inconvenience caused by the situation."

Island Energy also confirmed it would foot the bill for the last-minute accommodation needed for an estimated 50 households:

"We're sorry we were not able to get them back in their homes last night so have covered the cost of accommodation to help, our priority is to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."

Andium Homes said it would visit all affected residents today in-person.